Tainted Guardian - Discontinued
by Sasaui7
Summary: Go to the new Tainted Guardian for one that is to be continued. This will be deleted within the next week or so.
1. Episode 1: Enter Me!  A Day In My Life!

I crouched down behind a bush, my eyes narrowed on the clearing in front of me. There was a boy standing there with long black hair, closed eyes, and pale skin. He wore a black short sleeve shirt, black pants, and ninja shoes. I glared at the boy, balancing on my toes. I took in a deep breath before springing forward and at the boy. I quickly landed on the ground a few yards from the boy and jumped up, a kunai landing in the spot I'd been at. I looked over at the boy just in time to see him appear in front of me, leg pulled back. He kicked me in the gut, sending me flying backwards into a hard object.

"Sasaui (Saw-say-you)!" the object complained, struggling underneath me.

"Sorry," I muttered. I got up, reaching toward the object, which just happened to be a boy. He had dark hair, the bangs hanging over his face, onyx eyes that were glaring at me, and pale skin. He wore a black long sleeve shirt, white shorts, and black ninja shoes.

I looked a lot like him, but that was probably because we were twins. I had dark hair like my brother, one onyx eye and one jade eye (it was weird, but when I was six, some snake spat poison into my eye; even after my father got the venom out, it stayed green), and pale skin that was a bit darker than my twins. I wore a pink short sleeve shirt, black shorts, and black ninja shoes.

My brother and I were apart of the famous Uchiha clan, the only clan to be able to use an eye Kekkai Genkai known as the sharingan. My mother was Mikoto and my father was Fugaku, who was the chief of the police force.

"Come on, Sasuke. Stop complaining and let's get him." I nodded to the person who I'd attacked earlier.

Sasuke smiled, nodding. We both looked over, smiling. We looked at each other for another moment before running at him. Sasuke ran to his right while I took his left. I jumped up and kicked at his face while Sasuke skidded to a stop, using his hand to lift himself and spun, his leg aimed at the other's.

I smiled as my kick and Sasuke's kick landing, eyes narrowing when the man disappeared. "Crap," I muttered, looking around. "Where'd he go?" I watched Sasuke close his eyes, and I started to do the same when I saw something flying from my left. "Sasuke! Move!" I jumped forward, shoving him out of the way, then jumping back. The kunai went right past my face right as arms grabbed me around the arms, pulling me into a slightly muscular chest. With narrowed eyes, I began to struggled, kicking like crazy.

"Coming, Sis," Sasuke said, running forward. The teen behind me threw a shuriken, which Sasuke jumped up to dodge. The teen pulled me back and threw me at Sasuke right before he landed, the air leaving him when I hit his stomach.

"Sorry. Again," I said. I smiled at him before getting off of him before looking back at the teen. "You ready to work on the new move we've been working on?"

Sasuke looked at me for a moment before processing what I meant, nodding when he understood. "Kay," he said. I hooked my fingers together, bending down as Sasuke pulled out a kunai. I waited until he put his foot on my hand to launch him up into the air. I quickly pulled out three shuriken, smiling as I threw them at the boy.

"Take this!" I grabbed three more and continued throwing them, following him as he flew up into the air. I watched as he reached back into his kunai pouch, pulling out the ninja knife. I heard a clang as Sasuke and the teen's kunais collided, echoing off the trees over and over again.

Sasuke landed in a crouch, a cool smile on his face, on the other side of the clearing while the teen landed in front of me. I watched as the cloth by Sasuke's arm suddenly got a cut, blood slowly leaking out of it. "Darn it! I thought I dodged!" Sasuke whined.

The teen chuckled. "Afraid not, little brother," the teen said. He smiled, walking over and ruffling his hair. "You were close, though." He smiled.

"Of course you couldn't dodge, Sasuke. It's like Itachi never misses." I rolled my eyes, knowing it was true but still hating that the fact came from my mouth.

Itachi smiled before he walked over to me, Sasuke on his heels. "Good job. To both of you," he added. "It seems like you're getting better and better," he remarked. Itachi smiled. "I may even have some competition later on in life. For now though…" Itachi shrugged, leaving the sentence hanging and Sasuke and I angered.

"Oh, shut it," I said, rolling my eyes. "Trust me, Itachi. It will take us a while to be as much of a know-it-all as you." He simply smiled before ruffling my hair. "What? It's true? Isn't it, Sasuke?" I turned to my twin, who raised his hands defensively.

"No way," he said. "You are not dragging me into yet another one of your arguments with Itachi. Last time we both got our butts kicked when you jumped at him."

I rolled my eyes. "What? You know how much I hate being called Shrimp," I said. Yes, I was only about three feet tall, maybe a bit more, and Sasuke was at least three and a half feet, but I didn't like being called Shrimp.

Itachi rolled his eyes, smiling as he said, "Okay Sasuke, Shrimp, let's get going." I ran at him, watching as he smiled and dodged.

"Sasaui's a shrimp! Sasaui is a shrimp!" Sasuke chanted, turning and running toward our house when I ran after him, continuing to chant, "You can't catch me, Shrimp!" as he ran, only making me angrier. I ran at full speed, but Sasuke, having longer legs than me, managed to go faster.

"Cheater," I muttered under my breath, and apparently hearing me, Sasuke laughed. "Jerk!" I sprinted as fast as I could, maneuvering around people when I chased Sasuke around a corner and onto a street. "Sorry," I said every time I ran into someone, some of them giving me the finger(s). I glared at the ones who did that.

By the time we got to the Uchiha compound, both me and Sasuke were doubled over and panting. "Jerk," I repeated, hitting Sasuke's so pathetically I wouldn't have even considered it a punch. After a few minutes, I straightened, Sasuke doing the same after a moment. We looked at each other for a second before we started walking toward our house. I put my hands behind my head, locking my fingers together and resting my head against them. I waved to some of my friends and happily greeted people who were close to me, such as my aunt and uncle.

"How are you already here?" Sasuke demanded as we arrived to the kitchen, glaring at Itachi while he calmly sipped steaming tea from a cup. Unlike Sasuke and me, he looked as if he'd been resting all day. Unlike him, I was focusing on the smell of chicken coming from a pot on the stove.

"Why even bother asking?" I asked, walking passed him and toward our bedroom. I rolled my eyes when Sasuke jogged passed me, skidding to a stop as he rounded a corner.

"Oh, hey Mother!" Sasuke smiled nervously as Mother stepped around the corner, scowling at Sasuke.

"What have I said about running in the house, Sasuke?" she asked. She had long black hair, onyx eyes, and pale skin. She wore a black dress under a beige apron. After a moment, Mother smiled. "Anyway, welcome back."

Sasuke gave her a huge smile. "Thanks, Mother."

"Hey, Mother!" I yelled, running up to her. "Guess what!" I started jumping up and down as she raised an eyebrow. "I finally figured out what my dream is! I decided what it was while I was coming home."

Mother raised an eyebrow. I knew she didn't see what I was going to say coming. "What is that, dear?" she asked.

"To grow taller than Sasuke so that I can call him the shrimp," I announced, glaring at Sasuke. Both him and Mother burst out laughing, which I'd wanted them to do.

"Well, Silly-head, you and your brother need to go change before you eat dinner," Mother instructed, gesturing down the hallway that led to our room.

"Okay, Mother," I said, going past her. I smiled at Sasuke, and the next second he and I were racing toward our room, Mother yelling "I just said don't run!" at us. I burst out laughing, touching the door a moment after Sasuke. "Butthead." I childishly stuck my tongue out at Sasuke.

"Baby!" I hated how he could call me that just because he was a few minutes older than me. He opened the door before I'd removed my weight from my hand, making me scream and fall face first forward.

I glared up at him as he laughed. "You'll pay for that," I said. I raced passed him, confusing my twin, and grabbed a pillow. I swung it at his head, smiling when he fell onto the ground. Sasuke got back up, nostrils flaring. As he grabbed a pillow, I smiled, grabbed the clothes I was going to wear, and raced to the bathroom. We really sucked at obeying the "no running" rule.

I changed into a baby blue T-shirt with the Uchiha mark on the arms and suck dark blue shorts they were almost black. After making sure I couldn't feel Sasuke's chalkra outside of in our room, I exited. Automatically knowing that meant that he must be in the kitchen and that dinner was ready, I walked toward the place the scent of chicken was coming from. When I came in, I saw that Itachi, Sasuke, and Mother were sitting around the table, leaving two empty spaces. One for me and one for Father. Speaking of…

"Where's Father?" I asked, sitting down beside Sasuke.

"He's in our room changing now," Mother replied, smiling at me. I smiled back lovingly. "And no eating until he gets here," she added as Sasuke attempted in vain to sneakily grab a piece of chicken.

After a few minutes, Fugaku came in wearing a long sleeve dark blue shirt and dark blue pants. On each of his arms, like my shirt, was the sign of the Uchiha. I smiled at him. "Hello, Father," I said. His only reply was a simple nod. He sat down, and the next instant me and Sasuke were filling out plates.

"So how were they today?" Father asked Itachi.

Itachi looked at Father for a few minutes. "Sasaui and Sasuke did great for their age. Sasuke even came close to hitting me with a kunai." I knew he was exaggerating, but he always tried to make us look good. It's like he could tell that we hated it how Father and other people always expected us to be as good as Itachi.

Father nodded. "That's good. Maybe they'll be as good as you one day." See! There he goes, and he's only been home for, what, five minutes? Since it was my and Sasuke's turn to wash dishes, we had to stay and clean while Itachi, Mother, and Father walked off. I absolutely hated chores. And after that Sasuke had to take the trash out while I swept and mopped. We finished in about an hour since we both had to take showers after that.

"Okay, kids. Off to bed," Mother said.

With a sigh, both me and Sasuke trudged off to bed. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, but I also knew that Sasuke would be able to. I was too excited. The day after tomorrow we would be entering the Academy.

Sasuke almost instantly went to bed after he laid down. I just stared at the ceiling though. I smiled as I thought about becoming a genin. It would be amazing. I almost felt like getting up and jumping up and down with excitement. When I heard the sound of footsteps, I closed my eyes. The door opened and the footsteps got closer. I felt cold lips touch my forehead. I opened my eyes slightly just in time to see Itachi bend down and kiss Sasuke on the forehead as well. I smiled slightly.

Itachi walked toward the door, becoming a mere silhouette. "Go to bed, Sasaui," Itachi said without looking back. I got onto my elbows.

"How'd you know I was awake?" I asked.

Itachi simply glanced back and smiled. "I know more things than you'll ever know," was his only reply before he turned and walked out, shutting the door behind him. With a sigh, I closed my eyes. I stayed like that until I finally went to sleep.


	2. Episode 2:The Neglected Clown of Konoha!

"Where are you guys going?" I asked Itachi and Sasuke as they came into the kitchen, Sasuke holding a type of target board.

Sasuke grinned. "None of your beeswax. It's Itachi and my secret training secession. Nobody else allowed," he bragged.

"Right," I said, smiling. I knew Itachi would let me go if I asked, but I decided not to. "I was going to the park today anyway, so I don't really care." I went back to eating my eggs, wondering if they were even going to eat. I was answered by both of them just walking out, Sasuke waving at me while Itachi said a simple, "See ya." I gave them both a lazy wave, my fork still in my mouth. I stared at the door for a few more minutes before looking back at my plate. I noticed for the first time that the bite I just took was my last one.

I sighed, standing up. I took my plate over to the sink, putting it in there before turning around and surveying the room. Mother had said I had to clean before I went to the park, so here I was, looking for stuff to clean. When I saw it was clean, I went on to the next room. All there was were small things, except in my room. Stupid Sasuke just had to leave before I noticed the room, huh? With a sigh, I cleaned that room, which took about half an hour. When I was finished, I took a real quick shower. I dressed myself in a short sleeve white shirt with a collar that rose up and circled my neck, blue pants, and blue ninja shoes. I ran a brush through my hair, finally pulling it back into a ponytail. After examining myself, I smiled and ran for the door. "I'm heading to the park, Mother!" I called as I ran.

"Be back before it gets dark!" she yelled back. If she said anything else, it was lost since I was already out the door. I waved at Auntie and Uncle as I passed, smiling at them. I slowed as I exited the Uchiha compound, closing my eyes as I recalled where my friend, Reinami Wagona, lived. After I remembered, I sprinted toward her house. She was going to play with me today, telling me yesterday that she wanted me to meet her at her house before we went to the park.

I paused, deciding to take a different way to her house. I began to walk as I got into town. Seeing how it was so crowded, I took one of the back roads; one of the ones with trees surrounding it. Rarely anyone ever walked through because it was an easy place to get lost at, but I knew my way. Itachi had taught me the village well.

"Where'd that little punk go?" an unfamiliar voice cried. I walked around a corner, getting a glimpse of the person who had spoken. It was a bold man, his height matching my father's, his beady black eyes flickering left and right in search of the "little punk." He was wearing a white T-shirt, black pants. The next thing I saw made me have to force back a laugh. All over his face were scribbles, and on his shirt were the words "I'm a moronic loser!" scrawled on it in sloppy handwriting. Standing near the man was another man with brown hair, and (another laugh had to be held back) a crazy hair cut with huge bold spots. He had graffiti on his shirt similar to the bald man, wearing a red shirt with the words "You're standing by a idiot!" written on it and blue pants.

"Come out, you squirt!" the man with the terrible haircut yelled, his dark blue eyes glaring around, resting on me. I gulped as he stalked up to me. "Have you seen a blond haired kid run by?" he demanded, his voice so deep I thought he could do an elephant's voice. Or am I the only one who thinks all elephants would have extremely low voices? Probably just me, I figured.

I shook my head, staring at the man. "Nope," I replied, forcing myself not to take a step back. The smell of alcohol filled my nostrils, making my nose wrinkle. Feeling like the man would be angered by this, I automatically stopped. The man grumbled a few words, all of them words my mother would yell at me for saying, before walking back to the man. After speaking a few whispered words to him, the bald man grunted and he and his comrade walked passed me, their eyes still gazing around for the kid they were searching for. That kids chose the wrong person to tick off, I thought as I examined their muscular forms. When they were out of sight, I sighed and turned back around. I walked forward, planning on going to Reinami's house without another moment of delay, but stopped when I heard a loud crack above me. I looked up so fast I was surprised my neck didn't snap.

"Crap!" someone screamed before a shadow rolled off the breaking branch. One problem. He was going face-first toward me! I only had time to tense before he fell, our faces connecting. Forehead to forehead, nose to nose, and….. and….. oh gosh, lips to lips. Yes, it was an accident, but my cheeks instantly heated. I fell back, the boy landing on his back in front of me.

"Ouch," I heard him mutter as he sat up. "Dang it. That's hurt." When I sat up, I saw the boy rubbing the back of his head. He had blond hair, bright baby blue eyes, and tan skin with strange whisker-like marks on his cheeks. He wore a white shirt with a red swirl on it, blue shorts, and blue ninja shoes.

"You think that hurt you? You fell on top of me," I snapped, glaring at the boy. "And well….." I looked away, not even wanting to state the fact he sorta kissed me. Even if others wouldn't consider it a kiss, I did. I looked away, feeling my face heat up again.

The boy laughed, then he beamed at me. "Sorry about that. It was either me fall on your or that huge, old branch that was beginning to crack."

"I would've preferred the tree branch." Since it doesn't have lips, I added mentally. "What were you doing up there anyway?" Then it hit me as I looked him over again. "Hey! You're that blond kid those guys were looking for aren't you." I glared at him. I wasn't mean to people, even the ones I didn't like, but I was still ticked off that he fell on me.

The boy was instantly on his feet, slowly backing up. His eyes were strangely wide with fear, as if he was afraid I was going to hurt him. "I-I'm so-sorry," he stuttered, taking a few steps back. "Don't be mad." He suddenly swirled around and turned. I raised an eyebrow, confused. What had I done?

**Naruto**

When he arrived at the park, the one place he actually liked, he received glares from kids and adults, the parents practically pushing the children away from him. Naruto glared at them, his hands clenching at his sides. He sulked over to the swings, kids muttering things under their breath as they went to play somewhere else. If only they knew how much that truly hurt him. Sure, he acted like he felt nothing, but it really stung. He was sure the dark haired girl had been about to call him things, probably recognizing him from a description her parents gave to her, telling her to avoid him at all cost.

Naruto sighed, closing his eyes. He hated the way her face flickered across his mind's eye. Her eyes had been different than most kids he met. Other's showed nothing but loathing and fear toward him, but this girl was different. She didn't hate him, just mad. And behind all that anger, he could tell she was truly kind-hearted. Did she hate him? Or was she just mad he fell on her?

He absent-mindedly reached up and brushed the tip of his middle finger along his lips, still unable to believe he'd sorta just kissed someone. His first kiss. At the thought of that, something he thought he'd never experience, he smiled. Naruto just couldn't help himself.

He glanced up as he heard someone approach, but his heart sank when the person looked at his face and quickly turned, running away from him after sending a look of disgust his way. People always treated him like a plague, and he hated it.

"I don't know," Naruto heard a familiar voice say. His head snapped in the direction the voice was coming from to see a girl with black hair up in a ponytail, one onyx eye and one jade eye, and skin that looked like it was only now starting to tan. She wore a short sleeve white shirt with a collar that rose up and circled her neck, blue pants, and blue ninja shoes.

The girl standing beside her, the one she must have spoken to, had short blue hair, excited cerulean eyes, and tan skin. She wore a short sleeve blue shirt, black pants, and blue ninja shoes. She started talking the dark haired girl, but she didn't seem to be paying that much attention.

"Yeah. Whatever, Reinami," she would say, looking around. What is she thinking about? Naruto found himself wondering. Whatever it was, it distracted her from her friend. Naruto flinched as her eyes rested on him after finally roaming over to the swings. The girl didn't notice Reinami's look of disgust, and looked confused when she dragged her over to the sand box.

"What's wrong with the swings?"

"I just want to play over here, Sasaui."

So her name was Sasaui. Interesting. Naruto knew many names, but he had never heard Sasaui. As if sensing his gaze, Sasaui glanced back at Naruto. Her eyes widened with sudden remembrance. Naruto half way suspected her to turn away and agree that they should avoid the swings, but, instead, she gave him a small smile. He could just barely hear her soft chuckle.

"What's so funny, Sasaui?" Reinami asked.

"Nothing," Sasaui replied, looking forward again.

Could it be possible that she didn't see him like everyone else? Could she become his friend? Or would she realize later her parents said to stay away from him? Or had they? He sighed, looking down.

An hour passed quickly, kids coming up toward the swings, but turning away when they saw him. One was about to greet him, but stopped when she saw it was Naruto. What had he even done wrong?

"Why can't I play with him?" a familiar voice, one that he later found out belonged to the girl named Sasaui, demanded.

Naruto looked up, his eyes widening when he saw Sasaui on her feet, looking as if she'd been walking over to him. The other girl, Reinami, tightly gripped her wrist. As if feeling his gaze like he knew she'd been for the passed hour, Sasaui looked at him, his baby blue eyes meeting her onyx and jade ones.

**Sasaui**

I glanced up again, feeling his eyes pass over me. What was with that? He seemed to be studying me for some reason. I saw his eyes flicker away from me and at two boys approaching, both laughing. When they caught sight of Naruto, they stiffened. Muttering things under their breath, the two boys turned and walked away.

That had been the tenth pair of kids I'd seen do that in an hour. I glanced at Reinami as she talked to another one of her friend animatedly. Would she noticed if I went up to the boy? Or would it be smarter to stay put and mind my own business. With a sigh, I got to my feet. Before I even took a step, Reinami was there, a smile on her face.

"Where to now, Sasaui?" she asked me.

I smiled at her. "Actually, I was planning on going over to the swings," I said.

She looked passed my shoulder at the swings, glaring when she saw the blond haired boy. "Nope," she said stubbornly.

I raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?" I asked.

"I. Said. No." Reinami pursed her lips, reminding me of the fact she hated being told no. She wanted things done her way when she wanted them done. It usually annoyed the crud out of me. When I took another step forward, Reinami's hand shot out, grasping my wrist. "You can't play with him," she said, her voice slightly whiney.

"Why can't I play with him?" I demanded. My anger was starting to build toward my friend. It wasn't easy to anger me like this, but she was acting like a could words I would get whipped for saying. All I can say is it rhymed with bucking ditch.

Feeling eyes on me, I looked forward, my eyes meeting those of the boy's. I smiled at him. Forgetting Reinami's hand was still around my wrist, I tried taking a step forward. I sighed in annoyance when I was yanked back. "Well, Reinami. Why can't I?"

"You just can't."

"Yes, because that's just a great explanation, isn't it?" I said sarcastically. Three signs of my anger: Barely paying attention, narrowed eyes, and sarcasm. Lots and lots of sarcasm. And, if you weren't the person I was mad at, I'd be annoyed with you for no reason.

Reinami pursed her lips. "Please?" she tried, but I could tell by the look on her face she knew it wouldn't work. And it didn't.

"Reinami," I began, a little more than a little annoyed. "Has he ever hurt you?"

No reply.

"Has he hurt anyone you know?"

Still no reply.

"Has he said anything to you that would anger you?"

More silence.

"Then what the heck is your freaking problem?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips as I glared at Reinami, slightly disappointed in my friend. I'd never seen her act like this, and I'd never know it would tick me off so much.

"If you play with him, I won't be your friend anymore," Reinami threatened.

I glared at the person I thought was my friend. "You're threatening me?" I let out a laugh. I became aware of the eyes looking at us, but I ignored them. "Reinami, I don't know if you realize this, but you're acting like a b with an itch," I remarked. I yanked my wrist out of her hand. "And if you can't stop, I'm not I want to be friends with you. I'm not friends with jerks." I felt her eyes on me, barely glimpsing the gaping mouth as I turned, and walked toward the boy. I sat down beside him, laughing when I saw the aghast look on his face. "What?" I asked.

"I can't believe you just said goodbye to your friend to come play with me," he murmured, looking me in the eyes.

I shrugged. "Well, what I said was true." I smiled. "Was it really you who played that prank on those two men?" I asked.

The boy's face went from shell-shocked to a face with a huge happy grin spread across it. "Sure did," he replied. "I had a lot of fun giving them their makeovers, and I have to admit, they didn't seem to like my work. I, however, loved how they looked afterward." At this, I laughed. I couldn't help it. There was just this happy kind of aura around him that made me happy and want to laugh. Strange but true. The boy suddenly extended his hand. "By the way, I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!" he said.

I laughed, shaking his hand. "Trust me, I believe you," I told him. "And I'm Sasaui Uchiha. Remember the name."

I never knew how much me simply going to Naruto instead of staying with Reinami would change my life. Not for a long while, at least.


	3. Episode 3: The Hated Child of Konoha

Wind blew against my face, trying to force me down despite the fact gravity was throwing me up. I let a laugh escape from my mouth as I came back down, passing Naruto around the time the rope was straight.

"I'm going higher than you, Sasaui!" Naruto bragged, which impelled me to swing even higher.

"There's no way I'll let you beat me, Naruto." We grinned like total idiots as we swung. All the while kids look at me in shock and Naruto with disgust. I narrowed my eyes into a glare at those kids, sticking my tongue out at them. "Jerks," I whispered, not wanting to draw Naruto's attention to them, though. He seemed so much happier now than before when everyone ignored him.

"You ready?" Naruto asked, making me look at my blond haired friend. There was a wild, triumphant grin on his face. "Whoever goes farthest wins."

My eyes narrowed, instantly wanting to take on the challenge. "You're so on," I said, swinging even higher. "On the three, jump when you're at your highest, okay?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah." After the that the countdown began. "One."

"Two…"

"Three!" we yelled together, waiting until we were at our highest to leap off the swing. Naruto laughed, landing about fifteen feet from the swing. I narrowed my eyes, starting to lean forward to go farther. The only problem was then I accidentally did a front flip when I was too close to the ground. I winced, ready to hit the ground on my back.

"Gotcha," a familiar voice said, landing so that someone's arms were under my neck and knees. I glanced up to meet onyx eyes, a gentle smile on his face. "You do realize that would have been painful, right?"

I grinned. "What are you doing here, Itachi?" I asked as he set me down on my feet.

"He's saving your butt, you crazy moron!" another familiar voice said, my twin appearing in front of me. "What were you thinking? You shouldn't have flipped in midair!"

I put my hands up in defeat. "Okay, okay. I messed up. I would've lived even if Itachi hadn't caught me, though," I informed Sasuke, crossing my arms.

"Yeah, but you would've had a few broken limbs," Sasuke muttered.

"Sasaui!" I heard Naruto yell. When I turned, I saw him running toward us. Then he glanced over and saw Sasuke and Itachi. Almost if someone had shut him down, he froze. "Sasaui?" He gave me a questioning look, a bit of fear mixed in.

"Who're you?" Sasuke demanded, walking toward Naruto. I could tell he was about to blame Naruto for my mess up.

Naruto straightened his shoulders, trying to look tough. I could still see that fear in his eyes though. "None of your business."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth to speak, but Itachi beat him to it. "Calm down, Sasuke." Itachi stared at Naruto, showing absolutely no emotion.

Naruto looked at Itachi, prepared to give him his tough guy act again, but froze when he met Itachi's eyes. He took a step back, looking afraid. Then again, Itachi did have some pretty cold eyes if you didn't know him.

"Guys, this is Naruto. Naruto, these are my brothers. Itachi's the older one. The younger one is my twin, Sasuke," I explained.

Naruto glanced between Sasuke and me, his eyes narrowing. "You two don't look like twins," he concluded. "As for Sasuke, he's a moron."

I rolled my eyes while Sasuke and Naruto glared at each other. Naruto yelped as a pale hand that belonged to my older brother came down onto his head. "Cut it out, Sasuke," Itachi said. He crouched down in front of Naruto, smiling when he averted his blue eyes. "You were just trying to see if she was okay, weren't you, Naruto? It's not like you made her do it or anything." He looked pointedly at Sasuke, making the younger Uchiha look away.

Despite Itachi's words, Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Whatever," he grumbled, looking away.

Itachi sighed, shaking his head. "How about you three go play? And be careful on that twisted ankle, Sasuke," he said, smiling when Sasuke swirled around, cheeks slightly red.

"It was twisted, okay? It's just healed is all." He looked away from Itachi, grumbling about Itachi being unreasonable.

But that didn't stop Naruto, Sasuke, and me from playing. It was rivalry at first sight with Naruto and Sasuke. No matter what we did, the two tried to beat the other. Who could swing the highest. Who could run the fastest. Who could run the longest. Who could throw a kunai the farthest. Who could jump the highest. The did those things and more, most of which Sasuke won. Naruto won who could run the longest because of how high his stamina was.

"You two could go at it all day," I remarked as I sat next to Itachi on the swings, watching as Naruto and Sasuke competed to see who could spit the farthest. It was the most boyish thing they'd done so far.

"How long do you think they'll keep this up?" Itachi asked, laughing when Sasuke accidentally spit on himself. How he managed something so dumb was beyond me.

"Until we go home." I pushed myself with my feet, watching as Naruto jumped up in down in victory. "At least he won twice," I said.

Itachi sighed, getting to his feet when Sasuke and Naruto started arguing again. "Come on, Sasuke. We need to get home," he said.

"Oh, come on! Can't I at least win one more competition?" Sasuke whined, frowning as he looked at Itachi.

Itachi smiled. "No, Sasuke, you can't beat Naruto at another competition." He got to his feet, Sasuke dragging his feet over.

I went to wave, but paused when I thought of something. "Hey, Naruto, are you joining the Academy tomorrow?" I asked, eager to see him again.

"So you guys are joining too?" Naruto said, excitement filling his voice.

I beamed at my friend. "What do you think if I just asked you?" Even though I thought it was obvious, I was too excited to care. "That's so awesome!"

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Sasuke beat him to it. "That's great. Now I get to beat you at school things, too."

Naruto glared. "You freaking jerk! Why do you have to come to the Academy, too? It's not like anyone would want a baka like you to come," he said.

I couldn't help but giggle at their bickering, watching as Sasuke shook his fist at Naruto, challenging him to a competition of battle. It was then Itachi intervened. Well, he didn't really do anything but grab Sasuke by the back of his shirt collar and dragged him toward the park gate.

I laughed, running to catch up with them. "See you tomorrow, Naruto!" I called to my blond haired friend.

"Bye Sasaui! Bye Itachi! Go jump in a shark filled lake, Sasuke! See how well you can swim!"

"I'll show you how well I can punch!" Sasuke yelled, but he was smiling as he turned away from Naruto, Itachi letting go of his collar when he was convinced he wasn't going to run off. When I looked back, I saw Naruto smiling as well.

Our walk to the Uchiha compound was silent, nothing being said until we got to the wooden entrance of the compound. I flinched when I saw a figure leaning against the entrance, slowly unclenching when I saw it was Father.

"You're late," my father said. "I have something to tell you. We have to hurry back."

I paused even though Itachi and Sasuke went in. I followed, walking up to Itachi since I'd fallen behind. "What do you think he wants?" I asked.

"Don't know, but I'm sure you can listen in," Itachi replied.

I shook my head. "Can't. I'm going to train some since you and Sasuke went without me." I glared at him, but he just laughed and ruffled my hair. "Don't do that!" I said, swiping at his hand.

"If you weren't such a shrimp, he wouldn't be able to," Sasuke pointed out.

My glare transferred from Itachi to Sasuke. "Just you watch! One day I'll be looking down at you," I said. I was unable to stop the smile that spread across my face, giving away the fact I didn't feel any rage at all.

When we got to our house, I parted ways with my brothers and father, watching as they entered the house before running for the tree in the backyard of our house. I reached into my pouch as I turned to face the tree, my eyes narrowing. I brought my shuriken out, pulling my arm back and throwing. My shoulders drooped slightly when two of the four shuriken strayed off target and missed the wood by an inch or so.

"Focus," I told myself, bringing out more shuriken. I locked on the spots I wanted to hit, the few seconds that passed feeling likes minutes as I threw the shuriken, watching as they approached the trees. I noticed the way one of the kunai nicked the other, which was what sent it too high so it missed its target. So my problem was the shuriken were too close.

I continued doing this, finally getting it so the kunai didn't nick each other. My aim was still slightly off, though. When I thought I was good enough that I could get it down the next day, I started getting a little fancy with my throws for fun. I got a good distance from the tree, running forward when I had two kunai in my hands. When I was about nine feet from the tree, I jumped up. I did a back flip, throwing the kunai at the tree when I was half way through. I landed in a crouch at the same time two thuds filled the air, only milliseconds apart from each other. I looked forward, knowing it was pure luck that they'd both hit the tree, even if they were way of the place I'd aimed for.

"Sasaui! Dinner!" Mother called from the house.

"Okay," I yelled back. I ran to the tree, removing my kunai and shuriken from either the ground or tree. I put them all back in my pouch before turning and running to my house. I was met by the smell of fish and rice.

"Hey, shrimp," Sasuke said when I sat down beside of him.

"Shut up," I muttered, glaring at him. I didn't stay angry for long, though, because then Mother came, setting a plate of fish and rice in front of me. All thought of hitting Sasuke left my mind as I dug in. Sasuke followed suit, shoving the food in his mouth.

Mother laughed. "You guys must have played hard, huh?"

"No, Sasaui played hard. I trained hard," Sasuke corrected.

"That's a lie!" I said. "I was training my butt off outside only minutes ago. I bet I did better than you since I didn't hurt my ankle."

"I bet you didn't jump into the air and throw kunai upside down!"

"You'd lose that bet," I informed him.

"Oh….." Sasuke was a lost at words. "I bet you didn't jump as high," he grumbled.

I laughed. "Probably not, but it wouldn't have mattered. You suck at landing."

"Who's the one who almost got themselves hurt by jumping off the swing?"

Now I was at a loss of words.

"So, Sasaui," Father said, breaking the silence. "Has your aim improved? Can you hit your target?"

I looked away. "Most of the time," I mumbled, seeing what was coming from a mile away.

Father sighed. "You need to get stronger, Sasaui. You're an Uchiha after all."

"Father," Itachi said, making him look over at his son. That was all Itachi said, but a conversation seemed to pass through them as if they were talking.

"I was just stating a fact," Father said, finally turning away.

I didn't know why Father was always like that. Sure, I wasn't as good at Sasuke at some things, but that didn't mean he could continually pester me to get stronger. I was probably better than most people who'd be in my class.

I finished my dinner after that, excusing myself from the table. I lied about going to lye down, really sneaking out my window and going out to the tree. I instantly started training, hating how Father always expected better from me but hating that I was disappointed him. "Dang it!" I growled when a kunai missed its target.

By the time he spoke, I'd already thrown three dozen shuriken and ten kunai, sweat drenching me from where I'd been running when I threw most of the shuriken to improve my aim even more. "That's enough, Sasaui."

I jumped, panting as I turned to meet onyx eyes. "I need to keep training, Itachi."

My older brother frowned. "You're already doing good. Father's just…" Itachi looked toward the moon, his eyes filling with worry. "It's my fault, I guess. Because of how fast I progressed, he's expecting the same out of you and Sasuke. I'm sorry about the weight that must be put upon your shoulders." That was when he looked at me. "But, Sasaui, you're as powerful as a seven year old needs to be right now. You shouldn't wear out your body when your only a kid."

I looked at the ground, my hands balled into fist. "Why is it that not only does Father expect me to be better, but he wants me to be perfect, able to beat everyone? I've heard him say he wants me to be able to beat you one day even," I mumbled.

Itachi smiled, walking over and kneeling down in front of me. "Because he knows just how much potential you have locked away. But if you keep on wearing out your body, you won't be able to unlock it," he said, ruffling me hair.

"Cut it out," I said, unable to stop from laughing as I stepped away.

"Come on," he said, the smile still on his face. "Let's get inside." He got out of his crouch, gesturing for me to go first. I walked to the door, Itachi on my heels. Mother and Father were nowhere to be seen while Sasuke was in our bedroom, the pillow figure I'd made on my bed still in its spot. Nothing seemed moved, which surprised me. How had Itachi known it wasn't me. Then again, it was Itachi.

"Thanks, Itachi," I said, walking over to my bed. I pushed all but one pillow off, sliding under my covers.

Itachi walked over, bending down and kissing me on the forehead before leaving. "Don't worry. I already got Sasuke," he said, not even looking back to see my mouth opening. I smiled, Itachi's know-it-allness making me happy for some reason.

With a yawn, I let myself be pulled down into the darkness of sleep.

****

"This is boring," I remarked as I stood beside Sasuke in a huge line of kids, tuning out the Hokage's words. I couldn't stop myself. Nothing he said interested me.

"Shhh!" Sasuke rolled his eyes when I glared at him, glancing back after looking at me. He'd been doing that for a while, as if he expected Father to leave.

I, however, was searching the kids for a certain blond haired boy. Where was he? After that I looked back, searching for anyone who looked enough like Naruto to be his mom or dad. It wasn't until the Hokage finally ended his speech that I gave up. I faced forward again, waiting until the Hokage dismissed us to look around to start searching for Naruto. Sasuke instantly went to Father, but I was too determined to find my friend. I looked for any sign of yellow, eyes narrowing when I could find him. Where was he? It wasn't until I went next to the swing I got my answer.

"Sasaui," a voice whispered. I swirled around.

Nothing was there but a tree. My eyes narrowed. "Hello?" I said.

"Sasaui."

I flinched. The voice was coming from the… tree? Curious, I reached forward, poking the tree. I yelped and jumped back when I felt cloth instead of bark. I scrambled away, frightened by the unusual tree. What surprised me was when the tree laughed.

"It's just me, Sasaui," a familiar voice said, the bark falling to the ground. No, it wasn't bark. It was bark colored cloth. I looked from the cloth to the blue eyed boy now standing in front of me.

"Nice disguise," I commented, beaming at my friend. "So I see it's true. You are going to the Academy with us!"

Naruto smiled. "What? You didn't believe me?" Naruto punched the air, a smile on his face. "I'm going to become the strongest ninja in the world. Believe it!" he yelled, a few kids turning to look what was causing the commotion. The moment the parents saw Naruto, the ushered their child away.

Speaking of parents…

"Hey, Naruto, where is your mom and dad?" I asked.

Naruto's usual happy face faded away, as if it was blown away in the wind. "Don't have any," he murmured. "I don't even know who they were. The only clue I have is that one of them had the last name Uzumaki, but there's no Uzumaki clan in the Leaf."

I looked at Naruto, wondering what it would be like to never have known his parents. I wouldn't have been able to take not having parents. It had to be really hard sometimes. I smiled at him. "You have Sasuke and me, though. We're both your friends."

"Speaking of that baka, where is he?" Naruto asked, his usual happiness returning. It was as if the parent subject never even came up in the first place.

"He's with my dad," I replied. "He went with him to talk to some chunin who taught Itachi."

Naruto's eyes sparked. "Is Itachi here?" he asked.

My eyes narrowed in thought. What was with the sudden spark? Then I thought of how Naruto had said he wanted to be the best ninja in the world. Was he thinking of the power that radiated off of my older brother? Did he think he was cool because of that power?

"No," I finally said. "Itachi had a mission to do."

"Oh," Naruto said, looking slightly disappointed. He bounced back into himself, though. "Oh well." Naruto put his hands behind his head, locking his fingers as he rested his head on them. "That's fine. That just means nobody will be able to drag Sasuke away and stop our competitions."

I raised my hand. "I'm still here," I commented.

"Hey, girl," a voice said behind me.

I turned, knowing the words were directed at me. I blinked when I saw an unfamiliar boy coming toward me, keeping his distance. He glared at Naruto for a second before turning to smile at me. He had spiky green hair that pointed to the left, bright green eyes, and fair skin. He wore a brown shirt and white shorts. "What?" I asked.

"Just wanted to know what you're doing hanging out with that?" he asked, jerking his chin toward Naruto. "My dad says he's a monster. Just yesterday he played a prank on him."

"Was he bald? Or was he the one I gave a hair cut to?" Naruto asked, smiling mischievously. "Then again, it doesn't matter. Both of them looked funny afterward."

I smiled. "Oh, those two. Yeah, they did look pretty funny, huh, Naruto?" I laughed as I remembered. "I guess I should be thanking them. It's because of your prank on them we became friends."

The boy gawked at me. "You're friend's with it?"

For some reason, that ticked me off. "Him, not it!" I snapped. "And whoever your dad is deserved it. Maybe it will teach him not to drink. No actual ninja would get caught by a seven year old."

"Are you saying I'm not an actual ninja?" I swirled around, tensing when I the bald man from the day before. Like yesterday, he reeked of alcohol.

"That's what I said," I replied, forcing myself not to show fear.

The bald man glared. "Just so you know, I'm one of the best fighters in my clan," he informed me.

"Wow. Poor clan." The words escaped my mouth before I could stop them. My hands flew to my mouth, as if to catch the words, but they were already out. Crap.

Anger flared in his eyes, and I had a feeling being drunk wasn't helping his self-control. He swung, the boy behind me yelping in surprise. Unlike him, though, Naruto reacted. I don't know if it was automatic or if he was thinking, but he was suddenly in front of me, taking the blow right to the jaw bone. I watched, horrified, as he fell to the ground.

"Dad! Calm down!" the boy said, obviously unused to his dad being drunk.

"Take it back," the man hissed.

"You hit Naruto," I mumbled, unable to take my eyes off of him.

I heard the sound of metal clinking together, looking over just in time to see the man pulling out a kunai. Sheesh. He had to be drunk to pull a kunai out on a seven year old.

"Now." He didn't even give me time to take it back. The next second the kunai was going toward my face.

A figure was suddenly in front of me, grabbing the man's wrist. He jerked upward on the joint of the wrist and forearm, a loud crack filling the air. The figure raised his leg as he snapped the man's wrist, kicking him hard in the chest. With a cry of agony, the man stumbled back. He instantly grasped his injured wrist.

"How dare you attack my daughter," the figure growled, not giving the man any time to react as he grabbed his throat and slammed him against the tree when he began to attack again. "Now calm down or there will be a fight. One, I must say, you will not win."

The man gazed into Father's eyes. I knew he had his sharingan activated because he flinched when he met my dad's eyes.

"Uchiha," he murmured. "I-I'm sorry, but sh-she said I wasn't a real ninja."

"Seeing how drunk you let yourself become, no, you most certainly aren't." Father let go of the man, turning his back to him. Apparently he knew he was too scared to act. "Sasaui," he said, crouching down in front of me, "are you okay?"

I shook my head. "Naruto's the only one who's hurt. He protected me when that man tried to hit me."

"Naruto?" My father instantly looked at Naruto, who was up against another tree. He shook under Father's gaze, which confused me. That was until I saw the hatred burning in them. He glared at Naruto as he straightened out of his crouch.

"Hey, what happened?" Sasuke asked, appearing beside of me. Apparently Father had moved without telling Sasuke what happened, because he was at least a minute or two behind him.

"He attacked Sasaui," Naruto replied, nodding toward the man.

"Don't say her name!" Father snapped. I flinched at the hatred in his voice. "Come on, Sasaui." He grabbed my wrist, dragging me away from my friend. I looked back at him, hating the way I saw fear in his eyes. Somehow I knew it was fear we'd no longer be friends. Why? Because that was the same fear going through me. 


	4. Episode 4: Truths of the Heart and Soul

"How dare you even go near that abomination?" my father exclaimed as he paced back and forth in front of me and Sasuke, his eyes narrowed in anger. Itachi leaned against the wall to my right, Mother talking to Father in an attempt to calm him down.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Mother said.

"Okay? How can it be okay?" Father demanded. "My daughter has befriended that cursed monster!"

"Father," Itachi said, voicing nothing but that word. It seemed to send a message to Father, though, because he sighed.

"Our daughter should not go around that thing. It will only harm her," he said. His hands curled into fists as he stopped pacing, turning to look at us. "And neither should you, Sasuke."

My twin looked down, hating the fact he disappointed Father. "Yes, Father."

"Do you hear me, young lady?" Father asked, turning to me. "You are not to go anywhere near that monster again."

My hands curled into fists as well. I wasn't Sasuke. I didn't mind standing up to Father if I had to. "No, I don't hear you," I said. I got to my feet, unable to sit any longer. Not with the anger coursing through my veins right now. My eyes narrowed, unable to stop them. It was what my anger did to me. "You're calling Naruto a monster when he's not. He's just a boy nobody seems to care about."

Father glowered down at me. "Did you just say no?" he asked, a threatening tone in his voice, as if he was trying to tell me he'd punish me if I didn't back down. Wow. He really hated Naruto.

"You're as bad as Reinami! What has Naruto ever done to you?" I shook my head, not even giving him time to answer as I said, "Nothing, absolutely nothing!"

"That is enough, Sasaui," Father said in an attempt to end the argument. Too bad he'd already made my blood boil. I never gave up on an argument when I was mad.

"No it's not! I want to know what's so bad about me being friends with Naruto. Unless you tell me one good reason to, I'm not going to."

"I. Said. Enough," he said, grasping the material of his pants, as if he was afraid of doing something he'd regret. I saw his eyes flicker a crimson color, realizing a second later he'd accidentally activated his sharingan in anger.

I shook my head vigorously. "Why are you acting like such a big baby?" I demanded. I felt tears of rage start to fill my eyes. "I just want you to tell me why I can't. Both you and Reinami act like he's some sort of thing when the fact is he's a human boy."

Father shook his head. "This conversation is over. You will never talk to that thing again."

He didn't understand just how much that angered me. I shook with rage as he passed me, my fists so tightly clenched I thought I was about to break the skin. I'd never felt such strong rage. Then again, my father had never tried to control my life before. I don't know why it was like this. I just loved being free like a bird. Itachi realized what I was going to do before I did.

"Sasaui!" he shouted.

It was too late. I was already jumping at Father, who was getting ready to leave the room. Itachi's yell made Father turn toward us. His eyes widened, now black since he'd slightly calmed down, as my fist approached his face. I don't know where the power had come from, but the punch sent him stumbling back, tripping and falling into the grass when he got to the end of the wooden walkway.

I landed with a thud in the doorway, my breathing heavier than it had been a moment before. My eyes became as wide as Father's had been when I realized just what I did. The surprise was quickly replaced by fear when I saw the blazing anger in his eyes. I glanced between him and the direction of my room, taking off toward it before he had time to put his act of punishment into action.

It wasn't until I was finally to my room that he reacted, yelling, "Sasaui!" I threw the door open, slamming it shut behind me and locking it. I was still panicking, so I did the very first thing that came to my mind. I grabbed a backpack, stuffed some clothes into my backpack, and ran for my window. I yelped when I heard someone slam against my door. Father had finally reached my room.

"Open this door, Sasaui!" Father barked.

"Maybe later," I yelled to him, pushing as hard as I could against the window in an attempt to get it up. It wasn't until there was literally cracks in my door I realized the window was locked. With a groan of annoyance, I unlocked it and pushed it open. I winced in sympathy for my door when my father's fist broke through the wood. I glanced back, halfway out the window, to see my father reaching for the doorknob. "Sorry," I said, jumping out of my window and sprinting for the first place I could think of. Naruto's.

**Naruto**

Naruto blinked when he heard the knock at the door. He sat up, realizing a moment later he'd fallen asleep on the couch. "Only baby's nap," he muttered to himself as he got to his feet, walking toward the door. Naruto saw the last person he expected to see after that afternoon. "What's wrong, Sasaui?"

The Uchiha girl stood there, a backpack slung over her shoulder, tears streaming from her eyes. "Naruto," she murmured, reaching up to rub the tears away. "I'm sorry I came over so suddenly, but I wanted to get away from home."

Naruto glanced back at the mess known as his house. There were ramen cups everywhere. He couldn't exactly keep her out there, though. "Well, come on in." Naruto stepped out of the way, letting her walk in. "Sorry about the mess. I'm not used to having company," he explained. Naruto looked at Sasaui again, this time feeling relief he was sure showed on his face fill him. He'd feared he'd lost his only friend. She was the first person to actually care about him, but when her father seen him, he had freaked. What it Sasaui's father had forbid her to see him again. Then again, he was starting to wonder if he had since Sasaui had said she'd been trying to get away from her house. "What's going on, Sasaui?"

She didn't answer. Instead she started to clean. She began to pick up the ramen boxes, throwing them in the trash. He stared, open mouthed, as she even started to take a trash bag full of ramen boxes outside.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Naruto exclaimed, getting in front of her. "No. I know for a fact you didn't come over here to clean, and I want you to tell me what you are here for."

Sasaui sighed, sitting down in the couch she'd just cleared of ramen boxes. "Sorry. When I'm upset I try to find something to distract me," Sasaui explained. "I'm really sorry for just coming over here, but, well, my father and I sorta got into a fight. I….. I got really made when he said I couldn't be friends with you anymore for no reason and punched him in the face."

Naruto couldn't stop himself. He laughed. "You punched your father in the face? Wow, you're already acting like a kunochi and you haven't even started learning anything in the Academy," he said.

Sasaui's lip twitched up, but it seemed difficult for her to smile. "I don't think I've ever been that mad at my own family before," she remarked. Out of nowhere she started sobbing again. "I hit him, Naruto. I attacked my own father!"

Naruto's shoulders drooped. What did someone who had never had a family do when their friend was having family trouble? Naruto, trying to remember something from TV (if they don't have TVs in Narutoverse, they do now) that could help, he hesitantly put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a sort of hug. He felt his face redden, but it did seem to comfort her slightly. Sheesh, how could she not be embarrassed by this? Then again, she was used to social interaction and having friends. They may have done for her if she ever cried around them.

The knock made both the children jump.

"Now who?" Naruto grumbled, getting to his feet. Sasaui didn't even seem to notice. She remained on the couch, staring at the floor as she silently sobbed. Did hurting her family really hurt her that bad? He hesitated, remembering the fact she'd just gotten in a fight with her father. Could it be him out there, coming to get his daughter? Would she be punished because she was still hanging out with him?

"Open the door, dobe!" a familiar voice demanded.

His eyes narrowed, Naruto walked to the door and opened it. "I'm not a dobe, Sasuke!" he exclaimed, glaring at Sasaui's twin.

"Where's my sister," Sasuke asked, not even bothering to get into an argument. "Is she okay?"

Naruto glanced over his shoulder at her, hurting when he saw how fragile and hurt she was. "Not really. She's not hurt physically or anything, but she's hurting a lot emotionally."

"Well no dip, moron! That was her own family she hurt," Sasuke said, wiggling around Naruto and into the room. It was then he saw the backpack on Sasuke's shoulder. What as he planning on doing? "You both spending the night?"

"Oh, sorry," Sasaui murmured. Naruto turned to face her. She seemed to be in a type of haze, as if all she could think about right then was her pain and nothing else. "I meant to ask, but…."

"No need to apologize," Naruto said, looking away from her. He couldn't stand seeing his friend in that much pain. He glanced at Sasuke as he took the spot on the opposite side of where he sat, so he shut the door and took his seat again.

"How'd you get here, Sasuke?" Naruto, knowing Sasaui was wondering even if she wasn't going to voice it.

"I slipped away while my mom was still trying to calm Father down," he replied. "Father really snapped right then. I think the only time he didn't come after Sasaui is Itachi continues to remind him that anger makes us do things we'll regret."

"Father wouldn't hurt me," Sasaui murmured. "Yet I still hurt him."

"Don't talk like that!" Naruto exclaimed, surprised. She'd hurt her father, yes, but he'd provoked her. Parents weren't supposed to do that. Even he, an orphan, knew that. He watched the girl, Sasuke doing the same. He'd try to comfort her whenever tears would escape, but they'd mostly ceased. It was as if she'd just shut down completely. "Maybe you should go to bed," Naruto said, helping her to her feet. She acted like a robot, doing whatever he'd urge her to do. It wasn't until he led her to his room that she spoke.

"I can't sleep in your bed," she whispered. Once again Naruto wondered how badly it must hurt to know one had hurt their family, scaring them emotionally.

"Yes you are. I'll sleep on the couch," Naruto persisted. "Sasuke will sleep in there with you so you're not alone. Does that make you feel better?"

"I swear I'll kick your butt if I get dobe germs," Sasuke muttered, glaring at the bed as if it was invested with bedbugs.

"But-"

"No arguing, Sasaui," Naruto said. "If you don't sleep in my bed, I swear I'll sleep on the floor."

Sasaui gave him a sad look, but she numbly climbed into his bed. He began to walk out, Sasuke, to his surprise, following him. Sasuke stopped in the door way, refusing to meet his eyes. "Thanks, dobe. You may be an idiot most of the time, but you did everything you could to comfort my sister. She'll probably be better by tomorrow, but I'm not sure she would be if you hadn't been so kind to her."

Naruto smiled, then frowned. "Hey, I'm not an idi-"

The door slammed shut in his face. He sighed. He had his own bedroom door shut in his face.

**Sasaui**

I blinked as I woke up. I reached up, rubbing my eyes. I blinked as I looked at an unfamiliar room. It took me a moment to remember why. I was in Naruto's room, sleeping in his bed. Sasuke slept soundly beside me, oblivious to any other part of the world but his own dream land.

I sat up, thinking of the night before, remembering the pain filled haze I'd been in. It all seemed foggy, making it so I could barely remember what happened. I got out of the bed, looking down at my wrinkled clothes. After a moment, I located my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. I tiptoed out of the room, seeing if Naruto was awake. Like Sasuke, he was fast asleep. Since I didn't want to wake him up, I went to the bathroom and prayed he didn't mind if I took a bath.

When I was finished, I slipped on a pink shirt with the collar raising and circling my neck, black shorts, and blue ninja shoes. I walked into the living room again, smiling when I saw Naruto snoring, drool dripping out the side of his mouth. I glanced around, sighing as I got the full blow of the mess known as his house. I grabbed another trash bag, knowing Naruto would protest if he was awake, and started shoving the ramen boxes into the bag.

Doing this gave me time to think. I'd hurt my father. Out of pure rage, I'd hit Father. I winced my heart began to ache. I wondered how anyone could hurt the people they loved. I hated myself right now just because I hit him, a person I couldn't even hurt. What if I'd hit Sasuke? How tormented would I be then.

I sighed. Why did I feel so much pain over something so little? I shook my head. It was the past. I couldn't change it now, no matter if every ounce of my being wanted to. I wished I could take it back. I wanted to apologize, but I was too afraid to even think of going to see Father. I kept on remembering his anger filled gaze when he'd looked at me.

"Sasaui," a voice mumbled.

I dropped the bag, a scream ripping its way out of my throat as I swirled around. I sighed in relief when I saw it was only Sasuke. "Don't do that, Sasuke."

My twin rubbed his eyes, his mouth forming an O as he yawned. He rubbed his eyes, glaring when he saw what I was doing. "Why are you cleaning up his mess?" Sasuke asked.

I looked at the already half full bag. "It helps distract me. If I'm not distracted, I keep on remembering yesterday."

Sasuke sighed before walking over to me. He put his hands on my shoulders, his onyx eyes meet my two different colored eyes. "Listen to me, Sasaui," he said, sounding way more mature than his age should be. "You didn't do what you did yesterday out of rage like I know you think."

"Oh yeah?" I said, jerking out of his grip. "Then what, Sasuke, since apparently you know what's in my heart so much."

"I do," Sasuke replied. "At least I know it better than you if you don't realize why you hit Father." His eyes pleaded with me not to turn away. What I wanted to know was how he knew I wanted to. I mean, sure, I knew we were connected from living seven years together, knowing each other like the back of our hand (or hands, whichever it is), but I still didn't know how he knew.

"Whatever you're going to say is probably bull, so just don't say it. All I know is that my temper gets out of control too easily. Too bad I can't control it as well as you."

Sasuke shook his head. "No, you can control your anger. What you can't control is how much you care about your friends," Sasuke said. "This just proves you care about Naruto ten times more than I did. I was too afraid of disappointed Father to disobey him and hang out with Naruto. Yet you didn't. You protected him even though we've only known him for two days. You didn't lose control of your anger. You just protected Naruto by kicking the crap out of a jerk who was continuously insulting him."

"He's right, you know."

Both Sasuke and I yelped at the familiar voice, swirling around to see the oldest of the Uchiha children standing behind us. Naruto stood beside of him, looking at Itachi as if he was his hero. Which Naruto probably considered Itachi.

"What are you doing here, Itachi?" I asked, beginning to panic. Was he here to take us home? There was no way I was ready to face Father's wrath.

"I'm only here to make sure you're not still beating yourself up. Apparently Sasuke's already done that job for me, though," Itachi said, smiling toward Sasuke. "Don't do that too often or I'll be out of a job as her favorite brother."

"No way!" Sasuke shouted. "I'm here favorite brother."

Naruto laughed as Itachi stated his argument, remind of the hundreds of times he'd comforted me, silencing Sasuke for a moment before he grumbled about Itachi being the thing he'd get whipped if Mother had heard.

"You do have to come home after school, though," Itachi said, looking at me as he suddenly stated the thing I'd been fearing.

"But-"

"Don't worry, Sasaui," Itachi said. "Both Mother and I have been working on Father. By the end of the school day, he'll come around." He turned, ruffling Naruto's already messy hair as he passed. "Keep my sister and brother out of trouble, okay?"

Naruto beamed at him. "You got it!"

**Afternoon**

The school day came and went too quickly. Iruka was dismissing us from class after what felt like a minute after it started. I jumped at every loud noise, which meant I jumped a lot since I was in a hallway with a bunch of excited kids.

"Don't worry, Sasaui," Naruto said, though he seemed just as worried as I acted. "I'm sure your mother and Itachi convinced your father to see I'm not such a bad kid. If not…." He got a devilish grin. "Well, let's just say he'll find out the worst thing about me is my pranks."

"You moron! If you do that, he'll hate you even more," Sasuke stated. "But he is right about you not having to be so worried, Sasaui." Even though he said this, he seemed to be uneasy when I left the doors of the Academy.

"Should I run now or wait?" Naruto whispered to me, pointing at the gate of the school. As soon as I saw what he was pointing at, I came to a stop. Leaning against the gate was Father, his arms crossed. Itachi stood beside of him, his face a calm mask.

"Wait," Sasuke said, grabbing Naruto and me by the arm and dragging each of us over to the gate. His grip was tight, making me wonder if he was as nervous as me.

"Sasaui. Sasuke," Father said when we reached him, completely ignoring Naruto.

"Father," Sasuke and I said in unison.

A strange silence filled the air as Father's gaze swept over us, pausing to rest on Naruto at last. The unfathomable anger flared in his eyes for a second, but then he reined it in, hiding it despite the fact I could sense it was still there. "After a lot of talking," Father said at last, "your mother, Itachi, and I have come to a conclusion." He glared down at the ground, nudging a rock with the tip of his ninja sandals.

When Father was silent, Itachi prompted him on by saying, "Father."

He sighed. "We decided that you could play with the mon- I mean, boy, as long as it's at our house and someone is home. Also at school. You'll be permitted to play at the park together if Itachi's there-"

"To baby sit us," I finished, though I doubted those were my father's choice of words.

His eyes narrowed slightly, but he nodded.

I glanced at Sasuke, who was looking at me, and then we both glanced at Naruto. "Yeah!" I shouted, running up and hugging him out of sheer happiness. Then I backed away, laughing at my father's appalled expression. "Oh, right, I shouldn't do that. I'll get bit, right?" I joshed.

Itachi rolled his eyes, Father looked slightly annoyed, Sasuke chuckled, and Naruto gave me an absolutely confused look.

**One Week Later**

"Where is he?" I wondered out loud, tapping my hands against the table. Sasuke sat to my right, but the one to my left, the one Naruto was supposed to be occupying, was empty. "I mean, I know he probably got in trouble, but Iruka's never made him stand outside this long."

"I'm sure he can come in now. He probably snuck off, though," Sasuke said.

I still continued to wonder, though. My mind eventually found its way to the events that occurred outside during recess.

_"Ouch!" I shouted as baldy's son pushed me to the ground. "What was that for?"_

_"That's because I didn't get to when you said my dad was not a real ninja," the boy said, his gang of friends snickering behind him. "What'cha going to do about it, Uchiha? Going to call for your pet monster to come save you? Or is it going to be your dad again?" He tapped his chin as I got to my feet. "Go ahead, Uchiha, hit me. One shot and I won't even hit back."_

_"That's because you've already pushed me to the ground!" I exclaimed._

_The boy smirked. "A real ninja wouldn't have fallen to the ground so easily," he remarked._

_"Well, guess what. I'm not a real ninja yet, turd monkey!" Yes, I called him a turd monkey. The boy's face reddened with rage while his friends laughed behind him._

_"Take it back, you dumb girl!" This time he didn't shoved me. He brought his foot up and kicked me in the chest. I hit the ground again. I was actually tempted to take up his offer and hit him in the face, but I knew I couldn't. I wasn't going to hurt him out for nothing more than to release my anger._

_"Okay, Taro, that's enough," one of the boys said, stepping forward. "You've already pushed her once al-" He stopped when the boy, Taro, glared at him._

_"It'll be enough when I say it's been enough!" he barked._

_"No, it's enough when I say it is!" a voice shouted, a familiar boy shoot forward. His fist connected with the very spot Taro had tempted me to hit. "Leave Sasaui alone, you stupid turd monkey." Taro's friends cracked up again at the name._

_"You freaking mother-"_

_"Don't say the word," I broke in before he could cuss._

_He shot me a venomous glare. "So, you decided to call for your pet monster then, huh?" Taro asked, turning his dagger-like gaze to Naruto. "It's not like you can hurt me. That was just a lucky hit after all." Taro got to his feet and reacted instantly. He slammed his fist into Naruto's temple, disorientating him for a moment. It was only that moment that allowed Taro to shift his weight to his left foot, bring his right leg up, and send Naruto flying into a tree with a kick to the side._

_"My not-a-real-ninja father taught me how to add chakra to my attacks," Taro explained, looking at me again. He rushed forward, jumped up. "He also taught me to take down any idiots who think they can be ninja so they don't ruin this world, and you won't want to be when you feel my power. Not if you want to take on stronger people. So, adios!" His knee collided with my chest, but he didn't jump back. Instead he went with me as I fell to the ground, the impact hurting ten times more than my previous meetings with the Earth's surface._

_A scream pierced my lips, shattering the previously calm, quiet air. I glanced over through my tear hazed eyes to see kids finally noticing us. Iruka ran over, Sasuke close behind him._

_"Taro!" Iruka shouted a moment before I heard another voice, this one more murderous than I'd ever heard, yell, "You'll regret ever laying a finger on her!" Naruto was suddenly above me, his leg pulled back. It shot forward, colliding with Taro's face. There was a sickening crack before Taro flew back. Naruto landed in a crouch behind me, his red eyes narrowed. Wait. What? I blinked, confused when I saw his normal blue eyes. Why had I thought I'd seen red._

_Naruto suddenly fell to his knees, groaning in pain as he buried his face in his hands._

_Iruka stopped, his face ashen, while Sasuke hurried over to me. He helped me to my feet, questioning me. But whatever he asked went one ear and out the other. I could simply watch as Iruka jerked Naruto to his feet, moving with a type of urgency as he plucked Taro off the ground, placing him on his shoulder. Iruka barked at us to get inside, asking Mizuki, another Chunin, to watch over us. I was still watching Iruka's retreating figure, Naruto's face in one of his hands, as we walked into the Academy._

It wasn't until an hour later Iruka had returned, looking as gray as before. He'd continued instructions as if nothing had happened, teaching us about the very thing Taro had demonstrated- adding chakra to attacks.

I wasn't even paying attention as the lessen dragged on. Itachi had taught me how to do this already, even if I hadn't kindly displayed that for Taro, so I didn't have to pay attention. I had a feeling most kids' parents already had taught them this.

"Class dismissed," Iruka mumbled as he finished, still looking as bad as before. Sasuke got up, so I followed him robotically. I didn't feel like I could really focus on anything. Until I saw Father leaning against the gate again, just like he had been a week ago.

"Ah, Sasaui, just the daughter I was looking for," Father said, pushing off of the wall.

"What do you need?" I asked, not meaning to be mean, but probably sounding like it.

"There's so papers I needed to do, and I was wondering if you could help me out," Father explained. "I would have asked Sasuke, but I'm sure he wants to go home and hang out with Itachi."

Sasuke and I shared a glance before I followed Father while Sasuke headed home. I glanced around for Naruto, wondering if I'd see him pranking someone as we headed toward the Hokage's building.

I tensed as we walked through the doors. My heart pounded against my chest as a sudden sensation filled me. I felt….. murderous. That was the only way I could explain the feeling. It felt like I was ready to kill something. Or someone. I don't know what came over me. I just suddenly started running, searching for whatever it was who caused this emotion building inside of me.

"Sasaui!" Father called behind me.

I slowed as I sensed a chakra. It was that chakra that knocked the murderous feeling out of me. It was Naruto's chakra. That was all it took. The disastrous, monstrous chakra on the other side of the door blew over me as I charged into the door, eager to see my friend.

I regretted it the moment I stepped through the door. The scene in front of me took a moment to process it was so bizarre to me. There was exclamations of surprise as I charged in, Father right behind me. The Hokage was in the room, along with two anbus. One was a man with spiky brown hair, a cat mask, and an Anbu outfit. The other one shocked me. Itachi, looking at me with a bewildered gaze.

What was most shocking, though, was the very boy I'd befriended not too long ago. He was chained to the floor by what looked like, well, wood. I didn't know how it was possible, but he was. His eyes were closed, but I could see a couple differences in him. His hair seemed slightly more spiked and his whisker-like marks seemed more pronounced than before.

"Naruto!" I screamed, fear that he might be dead filling me.

That fear was proven wrong when his eyes flew open. My stomach churned when his eyes met mine. They weren't there happy, light filled baby blue eyes that I was accustomed to. Instead they were a hate filled crimson, his pupil mere slits like a cat's eyes.

"What are you doing here, Fugaku?" the Hokage demanded, anger clear in his eyes.

"Guardian," Naruto hissed. His voice didn't sound like his own. In fact, it sounded like a growl, only it formed words.

"Father, get her out of here!" Itachi shouted. Their eyes met, and an understanding seemed to pass between them.

"What's wrong with Naruto?" I asked, yanking against Father's grip as he pulled me from the room.

Naruto roared, a red aura flying from him. "Yamato!" I heard the Hokage yell as the wood cracked before breaking and flying away. Naruto got to his feet, the unnamed Anbu cursing as he started a series of hand signs.

"Naruto," I whispered as he jumped to his feet, looking at me with pure loathing. "Naruto!" I was sure my pain rung as loud and clear to everyone else as it did to me.

Naruto suddenly tensed, and then began to sway. "Sasaui," he murmured, his eyes turning back to blue when he blinked.

Being the stupid person I was, I ran toward him in joy. I jerked forward so suddenly that my father lost his grip, allowing me to run forward. I skidded to a stop as my stomach twisted, the feeling from before returning.

Kill. The word was a whisper in the wind, going into my head and circling my brain. Kill it. My stomach clenched, the same murderous feeling as before returning. I tensed, my hand, now out of my control, reaching back toward my kunai pouch.

It never reached it. The next moment Naruto was growling again. He lunged forward, his arms reaching out and slamming into my shoulders. He slammed me against the ground, all of this from the time he broke free taking place in twenty, thirty seconds top. The wood shot from the ground behind us, but it didn't move fast enough. Naruto was suddenly slamming his fists against my face, but they didn't hurt nearly as much as the fact it was Naruto hitting me.

Naruto, my best friend.

Naruto, a person I'd bonded with.

Naruto, the person just a moment ago I'd wanted to kill.

Naruto, the person who may just kill me.

Naruto, the person I'd suddenly lost, a monster taking his place.

**Hokage**

Naruto slammed into the ground as the wood seized his body and pulled him off the young Uchiha girl. "Dang it, Fugaku!" he exclaimed. "I told you not to come in today."

Fugaku was pale as he looked at the elderly man. "I didn't mean to….. I never would have…."

Itachi ran forward, but the Hokage didn't pay attention to the moment. Instead he looked at Yamato as he restrained the boy.

"No!" Itachi shouted. "Hokage-sama, she's losing blood fast. I don't know if…." Tears were pouring from Itachi's eyes. Then he turned to Naruto. "What's going on with him anyway, Lord Hokage? I know the Kyuubi has taken control, but how?"

"The boy was enraged when a boy attacked your sister. He fought back. His rage was so great a bit of the Kyuubi's energy leaked into him. It's too much for his body to take. He's gone berserk."

Itachi's eyes widened. The Hokage could almost see the gears turning in his head as he looked from his sister to Naruto. He sighed, looking down at Sasaui's broken form as he said, "I think I know a way to save her."


	5. Episode 5: The Darkness Within

The first thing I noticed was the darkness. There was nothing but that and the bluish black water beneath me, rising up to my knees. My mind seemed to have scattered into a million pieces because I couldn't remember anything. My legs were simply moving on their own. Just one step after another.

The first memory I got back was the worst. Naruto. I jerked to a stop, my knees buckling under me so that I hit them against the bottom of the water. I grabbed my head, shaking it as if that would banish the memory.

I kept on seeing Naruto, though, his hate filled gaze locked on me. Then he'd attacked. He hadn't even hesitated for a second. My best friend had been totally absent. At least I hoped that was how it had been.

I jerked when I felt the water around me start moving, pulling forward to form a huge wave that rose at least twenty feet into the air. I tried to get to my feet, but the pull of the water forced me back down. Having nothing to do, I simply watched as it rose into the air. Thirty feet. Thirty-five. It finally stopped at forty, the dark water slowly bleeding red from the top to the bottom, spreading out through the rest of the water.

When the wave started to take shape, I froze completely. At first I thought it was forming a wolf. But as it became more and more distinct, I found out I was wrong. The wave had formed a fox whose eyes were mirrors of Naruto's red ones, the same hate filling them. Guardian, the wave hissed, calling me the same thing Naruto had. What did it mean by Guardian?

Before the question could be answered, the thing let out a low growl and pitched forward, making it seem like I was on a beach with a wave coming at me. It slammed into me, sending me shooting through the water. Even though it had previously been knee deep, I found myself slowly sinking deeper and deeper under water.

****

My eyes flew opened, instantly closing when rays of lights blinded me. I looked away, and it was then I saw the figure by my bed.

"Sasaui!" Sasuke exclaimed, turning around and calling, "Guys! Sasaui's awake!" When he turned back to face me, he had a huge smile spreading across his face. "Good to see you're finally awake, Sleeping Beauty."

I stared at my twin, feeling a smile of my own forming on my face. "Thanks for the compliment," I said. "Where am I?" I slowly sat up, closing my eyes as a wave of nausea ran through me. "And have I been asleep for a while or something?"

"You're in the hospital. As for how many days you've been out, you've been asleep for three days. Speaking of which," Sasuke said, suddenly hitting me in the arm. "If you scare me like that ever again, I won't hold back, Shrimp."

"I'm not that short!" I shouted as the door opened. Three figures came in.

"Sasaui," Mother sighed in relief, walking over and hugging me. She pulled away, holding me by the shoulders as she looked over. "I can't believe you out of all people got attacked by a prisoner escapee."

"Prisoner escapee?" I thought back to my last memory, flinching when it all came rushing back. Oh gosh. Naruto. The same nauseas feeling from before returned. I looked at Father and Itachi, thinking they'd clear everything up. Father was refusing to meet my eyes while Itachi stared right into mine, a warning in them. "Yeah, hard to believe." Hard to believe that Naruto tried to kill me.

"So she's really awake?" As if thinking of him had conjured him up, Naruto was there, slipping through Father and Itachi. He smiled at me. "Hey, Sasaui. Good to see your-" He paused, a perplexed expression on his face as he looked at me. "What's wrong, Sasaui?"

It was then that I realized I was trembling. Naruto, my best friend, stood in front of me. And I was terrified of him. I continued to see him with those hateful red eyes. Eyes that matched the eyes of the water fox's eyes. "No-nothing," I stammered, averting my eyes.

"Guys," Itachi said, "I think Father and I need to speak with Sasaui. Alone."

Mother was clearly mystified, but she took both Naruto and Sasuke from the room. The last I saw of Naruto was his hurt eyes when he looked back at me. Then the door shut, blocking him from my view.

"What happened with Naruto?" I demanded, still staring at the door that separated Naruto from me.

"The nine-tailed fox overpowered Naruto," Itachi told me. I was sure my expression was priceless when I turned to face him because he smiled. "You see, when the nine-tailed fox attacked the Leaf-"

"The Fourth Hokage killed it," I finished.

"That's what the adults tell the new generation," Father said. "You cannot kill a demon. The Hokage sealed the beast within a new born child. I'm sure you can guess who that child is."

I didn't answer, but it was obvious to both of them I knew. Naruto was a demon. For some reason, I felt like that thought was wrong. It was as if part of me didn't believe what the other part of me was saying.

"When he fought that kid at school, his anger caused a bit of the demon fox's chakra to leak into him. The fox's chakra was so strong that it overpowered him. The Hokage did a few jutsus to make sure it doesn't happen again," Itachi explained.

I looked down at my hands as I twirled a loose string in my fingers. "So why did he attack me?" I asked.

When they didn't' answer, I looked up at Itachi and Father to see they were looking at each other, a silent exchange passed between them. "It's because you were so close to Naruto," Itachi finally said. "To make sure the closest person to him didn't help him fight its control, the fox tried to kill you."

"Do you understand why I wanted you to stay away from him now?" Father asked.

I felt my head nod. I closed my eyes, clenching my hands. I tried to picture the fun-loving prankster I'd befriended. All I could see, though, was the demon side of Naruto, a giant fox wave behind him.

I don't know why, but I started to cry.

**Naruto**

Naruto sighed as he rested his head against his desk. Where was Sasuke and Sasaui? The thought of the female Uchiha made him remember her eyes when she'd looked at him before. That fear hadn't been in her eyes until she looked at him.

"Where are you going?"

He turned to see Sasuke standing beside his seat, Sasaui starting to walk away in the other direction.

She looked at Naruto before looking away. "I'm going to sit with Hinata and Kiba today. You should go ahead and sit with Naruto," Sasaui replied. She smiled as if she didn't have a care in the world before heading toward Kiba and Hinata's desk.

Sasuke sighed, sitting down beside of Naruto. "I really wish I knew what was up with Sasaui," he said. "She's been locked in her own mind ever since she talked to Itachi and Father yesterday."

Naruto stared at her back, watching as she smiled to Hinata, sitting down beside of her. She stared gushing about Kiba's new puppy, one he'd introduced as Akamaru. As if feeling his gaze, Sasaui looked up. Like before, fear clouded her eyes. She looked away immediately to talk to Kiba.

"Yeah, I wish I knew the answer to that one as well," he said glumly, looking down at the desk. "Has there been any news on the prisoner escapee?" For some reason, that was the one thing he was most interested it. Something poked its head up in the back of his mind, but he couldn't grasp it long enough to bring the thought all the way out. Something about Sasaui…

"My father told me this morning that they caught him, so there's no need to concern yourself." He smiled. "Not like he'd want to come after you. Unless, that is, you had decided to pull a prank on him. Sounds like something you'd do."

When Naruto didn't comment, Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"So, you want to race after school?

Still no comment.

Sasuke sighed. "Fine then. Be distant, see if I care."

**Still Naruto**

He sat sadly in the swing, using his legs to rock himself back and forth. After his sorta-conversation with Sasuke, Naruto hadn't talked to anyone. He kept on seeing those fearful mismatched eyes. The brightness of her green eye compared to the other one, a dark stone from the bottom of the river.

Why had she looked at him like that? Why was she suddenly afraid of him? He hadn't done anything. He'd even saved her from the Taro boy. He sighed, glancing up at the group of kids that were gathered, cheering on other kids as they sparred. Iruka stood behind them, only making comments during the match if he found it absolutely necessary. Naruto didn't know who had fought who. He only knew that his name hadn't been called yet. He'd stopped paying attention after he heard the first match being Taro fighting against a blond haired girl named Ino.

There was cheers and boos as the fight ended. Naruto heard something about Shikamaru being a lazy slacking and Kiba being a wild dog.

"Okay, now for the last match," Iruka said, and since Naruto had already focused slightly on the battle instead of his inner pain, he paid attention to what Iruka said next. "Sasaui Uchiha against Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto tensed, wondering if fate was being nice and letting him talk to Sasaui or something else. He felt himself raise to his feet, one foot going in front of the other as he walked toward the crowd of people.

"Let the freak through," Taro muttered. Naruto sent him a glare. He wondered if Taro would like to get punched again, decided not to waste his time possibly being able to communicate with Sasaui, and walked past.

Sasaui stood on the other side of the circle the crowd made by the other students, staring at the ground while continually shifting her weight. She glanced up at him, a forced smile spreading across her face.

Despite her attempts to hide it, he could still see that fear. It was something he saw in her eyes whenever she looked at him.

And every time he saw them, he felt like someone was slowly dissecting his heart.

"You two ready?" Iruka asked.

"Yes, Iruka-sensei," Sasaui replied.

Naruto simply nodded. He got into a battle stance, glancing at Iruka. He signaled them to go, and Naruto charged. Sasaui was still just standing there, her arms simply raised. Naruto slowed when he got to her, trying to imagine that everything was fine. They were at her house, training like they always did.

If there was anyone who knew Naruto's moves, it was Sasaui. She said she could usually read him, but his speed had picked up enough she actually struggled to dodge most of the time. At least, that was what she had said.

Naruto punched at her, his eyes widening when she just stood there, petrified as she looked at him. His fist had too much momentum to be stopped, so instead he quickly crouched down so it collided with her stomach instead of her face.

She stumbled back, the crowd around them suddenly silent. Naruto could only stare, watching as she stared at him, something causing her eyes to shimmer.

"Come on, Sasaui. Fight back," he said when she just continued to stand there. Murmuring voices reached his ears.

"What's wrong with her? She should be kicking his butt."

"Is it just me, or does Sasaui look afraid?"

"No way. Sasaui Uchiha isn't afraid of a wimp like that freak."

"Come on, Sasaui! I've seen you beat Naruto plenty of times. It's just like practice at home!" Sasuke called from within the crowd.

Her eyes still shimmering strangely, she ran forward. She threw a feeble punch, so slow that Naruto easily caught it in his hand. He stared at her, trying to figure out what was going on. It was obvious to him. She was afraid of him. She was down right terrified. Without his consent, his mouth opened, a single word, a word that had been plaguing his mind since that morning, coming from it. "Why?"

He felt his emotions, something he'd been forcing down all day, raising to the surface. He had to get out of there. There was no way he was going to let everyone see him if he broke down. Naruto mentally chided at himself when the first emotion that came out overpowered him. Rage.

His free hand shot forward, colliding with Sasaui's face. She seemed to have been in a shocked state since he'd questioned her, and she still seemed to be when she hit the ground. She just stared at him, unreadable thoughts visible in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Naruto said, feeling like his emotions were about to explode out of him. He turned and ran, the crowd parting for him. He ran out the gate, hitting the dirt road at full speed. He didn't know what he was running from. His emotions. The loneliness. The pain. The cruel fate he had.

He didn't stop running until he was in the middle of a village street, breathing in short, quick gasps. He stared in front of him, already knowing what to expect. At least their hatred he was used to. The villagers stared at him, grumbling about how much of a freak or demon he was. Not a kind word directed toward him.

Naruto closed his eyes, just standing there, trying to collect the mind that had suddenly broken into a million pieces. The pain ate at him, leaving anger to fill in the parts of him it ate at.

Why? That word rang in his ears. It was the word that began so many questions in his mind since Sasaui's looked at him with the same fearful eyes others did. Why was she afraid of him? Why did it hurt him so much? Why did everyone shun or fear him? Why wouldn't they just leave him alone? Why was fate so cruel to him?

He felt a strange anger boil up within him as they continued to glare at him. He'd been given a friend. Someone who he'd thought would be there for him no matter what. Someone who would look past all his flaws. Someone who didn't care that all the adults hated him.

He'd thought Sasaui had been that person.

But now she was like everyone else.

The people who wanted him dead or gone. Who would have been happy if he'd never existed.

He gladly let the anger wash over his pain, wanting it to just be gone. Naruto felt like if he didn't let the dark anger fill him, the pain would destroy him.

A strange dark laughter filled his head as he turned. Fine, he thought as he turned. If they wanted him to be gone, they were about to get their wish.

**Sasaui**

"Why?"

I was still on the ground, my cheek stinging. I couldn't care less, though. The pain I'd seen in Naruto's eyes hurt more than my cheek ever could. I kept on seeing them now instead of his red eyes.

Why? What did he mean by that? His eyes made it sound like it could be so many things. I'd been wondering the same thing. Why had he attacked me? Why was he a demon? If he was a demon, why had Naruto been my friend?

I felt like I was in a strange daze, but my body moved. I got to my feet, staring at the gate that Naruto had just exited from.

"Hey, Sasaui, what's up?" Sasuke asked, walking up so that he was right beside me. "We both know you could beat Naruto if you wanted."

I didn't answer. Instead I let my body move the way it wanted. I found myself running toward the gate as well, barely hearing Iruka say, "Class dismiss I guess."

I accidentally hit people, making them stumble away. My mind raced, and for the first time when I thought of Naruto, but this time I didn't wonder Why?, I thought about what Naruto's why meant.

I came to a stop in the middle of a busy village street, everyone passing me, their words blocked from my ears. I stared at the blond boy who stood in front of me, taking in deep breaths as I tried to regain my oxygen. As I looked at him, everything seemed to fade from focus except him and me, everything else a black blur. I could see the movements, but it was something distant, almost as if they were in the shadows.

I saw a strange aura suddenly flare around him, even though my suspicion was that it was my imagination. It was an reddish orange color, dancing like flames as it took shape. The nine tailed fox.

The beast stared at me, its red eye seeming to force fear to stir within me. Along with that strange need to destroy it. A strange sensation making me what to slay it like a knight would slay a mighty dragon. Then I looked down at the figure the aura was coming from at Naruto.

The beast was sealed within him. For some reason, that thought nagged at me, trying to get me to see something. I remembered how we'd first met by him falling on my face, accidentally kissing me.

No, I thought. That wasn't the first time I'd seen him. There had been one time before. It had been a year before, but I'd totally forgotten about it. Until I'd gone passed the alley. I hadn't been able to remember what event had happened there until I'd dreamt it a few nights ago.

**Flashback**

Father had my wrist in his hand, leading me back home. We'd been at the park, Sasuke training with Itachi again. I'd wanted to go, but it was one of their famous one-on-one special training. Itachi and I had them at times, but I hated doing that to Sasuke so much I rarely did it.

We were taking a shortcut to get home, late because Father had caught a criminal that had suddenly appeared, trying to kill one of the parents because they were the reason they'd been put in jail. I was still talking to Father about, a huge grin on my face as I looked at him with awe and respect. I'd never seen my father beat anyone so quickly without killing them. Especially when they were one of the worst criminals in the Leaf.

And that was when I heard the sobbing. My eyes narrowed as I cocked my head to the side, raising the ear that was in the direction of the crying. It sounded like it was coming from the wall. I looked over at it, confused since walls couldn't cry. It was when we passed the alley I saw him.

He had his head buried in his knees, his shoulders shaking. I jerked to a stop, making my father stop as well. He had blond hair, a white T-shirt, and blue shorts. He couldn't see me with his eyes, but it seemed as if he didn't have to see me to know I was there. He looked up, his eyes red and puffy. His blue eyes shimmered for a second before hardening, refusing to further his weak and sad form. It was surprising that the kid, a kid, I might add, that wasn't older than me by more than a year, could do this so quickly and easily.

I found myself smiling at him. I was still happy after seeing my father's fight, and I suddenly felt the need to spread that happiness. I walked over to him, bending down so my face was a mere two inches from him. I reached forward with both hands, making the boy jerk. Before he could react, I pulled the two sides of his mouth up. "There we go," I said. "You should smile more. You don't seem right sad."

The boy stared at me, his lips falling when I pulled away. He looked at me, a huge smile on my face, before one side of his lip pulled up. And then the other did as well. Even with a smile on his face, though, I could see such strong pain it should have been impossible for a kid to feel.

Before I could do anything else, my father had my wrist in his hands again, dragging me home. I didn't think about it until later, but Father suddenly seemed angry after we left the boy in the alley alone.

**End Flashback**

Have you ever felt like two trains had suddenly collided within you? That's how I felt as conflict raged within me. Over what? Naruto. Part of me was saying he was a demon, seeing those red eyes as he lunged at me. The other side said that side was wrong, making the imagine of his pained eyes raise to my mind.

It felt like hours had passed when only a handful of seconds had. I continued to gaze at my….. Friend? Could I still call him that? I felt as if I was split in two, unable to decide on what side I was on.

I wanted to scream, as if my problems would flow out with my oxygen. Instead I just sighed, staring in Naruto's direction.

And it was then that I noticed them. The glares from the other people. I focused on them, letting the darkness that had covered them fade. They came into view, finally hearing their words as they glowered at him.

"Look there. It's the demon."

"Why does the Hokage let it live?"

"Can't that thing just die already? It's a danger to everyone."

"Don't go near it. It may kill you."

"Stupid freak. I'm thinking of killing it to just get it over with."

"Don't say that. The demon may hear you."

It. The demon. Freak. Never Naruto. Not even calling him a boy. Just saying he was a demon and not caring if he heard. Well, except the last one. After that I blocked them out, finding my reason as my anger built. And it was then I realized what had been nagging at me.

The Hokage sealed the beast within a new born child, my father had said.

He'd sealed the fox within Naruto. Not once did that mean that Naruto was the demon. The only thing that I could figure that caused this realization was that the pain had been caused by everyone shunning him. Not just the parents like I'd thought, just wanting to protect their kids. But everyone in the village. They all hated him, not caring if he lived or died. Most of them would actually prefer he be the latter. That was what caused the pain. I'd let fear get rid of the previous pain, afraid of what he'd done before. But now that I realized the extent of his pain, it washed away the fear, replaced by the need I'd felt the first time I'd seen him.

Just as I'd thought then, he didn't seem right sad. And even if that meant I had to deal with the demon within him, he was still Naruto. Everyone had their own inner demon, even if Naruto's was worse. I'd just have to deal with it and help him control it. He'd only let a bit of the energy out to protect me after all. I'd just make sure I gave him strength to hold it back.

I walked forward, noting the way Naruto was just about to turn around when I reached him. I put my hand on his shoulder, making him jerk in surprise. "Hey there, Naruto. Why'd you run off like that?"

"Sasaui?" he said, blinking in surprise.

As I looked at him, I felt a bit of fear raise up inside me, but I forced it down, instead reminding myself of my vow. I smiled at him. "Yeah. You ran pretty fast from the school."

He just stared. "I though you were avoiding me," he stated.

I laughed nervously. "No, not at all. I just wanted to go see Kiba and Hinata for a little bit. I like Akamaru. He's the puppy that Kiba has."

Naruto nodded, his eyes narrowed. "During the fight, why wouldn't you fight back?"

Oh great, more lying. I forced a smile. "Well, you see, I was sorta seeing the thug again. It had nothing to do with you," I lied. "I think I'm over it though."

Naruto smiled, and then he began to half laugh, half cry. The next thing I know I was tackled by a hug. "Whoa! What the heck?"

He didn't say anything to answer me. Instead he just began saying, "Thank you," and repeating it over and over again.

**Five weeks later**

"Dang it! We're so late," Sasuke said as we hurried back to the Uchiha compound. "Father is so going to kill us."

"I told you that you shouldn't have challenged Naruto to that last challenge. So, just so you know, if anyone's dying tonight, it's gonna be you."

"How about the winner doesn't die?" Sasuke challenged, running faster. My eyes narrowed, my completive side stirring, and I ran at full speed. Sasuke to my annoyance, was about two yards in front of me when we reached the compound. I ran even faster, trying to at least beat him home. I made a sharp right to take a short cut, and it was then my foot hit the slick liquid. I slid, wincing when I slammed against the ground.

"Ouch," I grumbled, rubbing my now sore head. I got to my knees, glancing at the stuff I'd slipped in. Without the light of the sun, it looked black with a tinge of red. I bent forward, examining the stuff. I reached down, dipping my fingers in it. I brought it back up, smelling the sticky substance. A chill ran down my spine as I realized what it was. I looked around, searching for a body that could have produced a pool of blood. I found smeared blood marks leading to my friend's house. She and her family was one of the few people who lived right at the entrance of the compound. Most of the other places were stores.

I got to my feet, following it. Part of me wanted to go get Father. He was a cop. He'd know how to handle it. But something pulled me onward, as if getting Father wasn't something I should do. As if I needed to see something.

Soon after I entered the house, I found the owner of the blood trail. It was my friend's father's blood. He laid in a crumpled heap on the floor. I'd almost fallen over him. I stared, unable to take my eyes off the huge gash in his back and side. Had he dragged him? I guessed he had because something had bitten into his finger tips, as if he'd pulled against a hard surface.

I heard a soft moan, which lead to me walking into the kitchen. It smelled of burnt meat and rusty blood. There was two figures on the floor. One was the mother of my friend. I saw her arm was detached, but I refused to examine it closely or even find out where the limb was. Instead I looked at the other figure.

My friend, Ai, was against the counter, a kunai protruding from her chest. It was deep enough I knew she'd die soon, damaging some internal organ that was in that space. A lung? Her heart? Or would she be dead by now?

I ran over to her, dropping onto my knees. "Ai, what happened? Why is your family dead?" I demanded, feeling tears spill from my eyes. Or had I already been crying? Judging from how wet my cheeks had become, that had to be the truth. I sniffled, trying to get my snot under control.

"Sasaui, run," Ai murmured. "He may come back for you."

"Who, Ai. Tell and I'll tell Father. He can stop him from killing anyone else while I go and get help," I told her. She said something, but her voice was so low that I didn't hear her. Because of this, I leaned in closer. "What?"

She said a three syllable word that made my chest hurt.

"I…. ta…. chi…" And then she just went limp, her spirit leaving this world.

I could have sat there, frozen from shock, unable to believe who she was accusing, when a familiar scream pierced the air. I was on my feet and running so fast it felt like one second I was by Ai, the next second I was barreling down the street to our house.

Sasuke, I thought. If anyone were to die, you said it would be me. If you don't keep that promise, I swear I'll kill you.

The scene of my ruined home made me want to stop and cry more. The only thing that made me continue running was the Sasuke, his scream ringing in my ears. I couldn't stop now. No matter what. No matter how much fear I felt or how unbelievable the hole thing was. I reached up, constantly wiping away tears. A strange numbness had spread through my body. The only way I could be moving was that the will to protect my loved ones was pulling me forward. The will of fire, I thought the Hokage had called it.

I came to our house just in time to see Sasuke running off again. I saw that as a sign that he was alive, happy as I took off after him. I kept a look out, searching for Itachi. Where was he? Sasuke was running from him, right? He knew that Itachi had done this, didn't he? I saw the dead bodies of my aunt and uncle, along with Ai as the life seeped out of her. I couldn't imagine it, though. Itachi doing such a thing as this. It shouldn't have been possible. Not with Itachi.

A thought from weeks before came to me. Everyone had their own inner monster. The darkness they fought against all the time. But what would cause Itachi's darkness to win against him? He was invincible, right? I'd always seen him as the hero. I just never guessed he'd turn to the dark side.

When I finally caught up to Sasuke, I felt my heart squeeze. He was on the ground, my other brother standing in front of him. His headband was on weird. I saw him reaching up to his eyes, but before I could even figure out what he was doing, he turn and began to run.

"Stop!" I cried before my brain could think of a reasonable thing to do.

Itachi tensed, his body coming to a complete stop. He sighed, shaking his head. "I'd been hoping that you wouldn't follow me, Sasaui. Not like our foolish brother. You usually don't let your actions get the best of you."

He turned to face me, his red eyes making me flinch. I'd never seen that sharingan turned on me. And it was then that the images began. The death of all my loved ones playing for me like a movie. A movie I just wanted to end. To be over already. To stop ripping my hearts to pieces.

I couldn't keep my footing on the roof when they finally did end. I was so numb I didn't feel anything when I hit the ground. Even if I did feel pain, it didn't register. It was too little an amount to feel. How could I feel any other kind of pain when I felt like I'd just been killed with each of my family members?

For the millionth time in the last six weeks, I could only think of one word. I don't know how I managed to even form a word or how I was able to get to my feet, Sasuke's limp body beside of me. I expected to see a pool of blood around him, too, but I couldn't bring myself to look for one. Even more shocking, I was able to croak the word out. "Why?"

Itachi met my eyes. I searched them, trying to decipher it myself as he said, "I did it to test my abilities. I had to know what I had. This clan has been holding me back, so I got rid of them. None of them had potential. Not like you," he said. Then he started rattling about some Mangekyo Sharingan, but I didn't seem to hear it. It went in my brain, being stored away before I could think too much about it. I couldn't do anything but study my older brother's eyes, trying to figure out the true reason. He had to be lying. There was no way Itachi would kill everyone for a reason such as power or whatever lame excuse he'd made.

When I tuned into what he was saying, I heard, "a catch." He paused, as if to be dramatic. "You must kill your closest friend."

Shisui as well, I realized. I looked at him, at those cold eyes. I didn't want to believe it, but I couldn't help but feel a small spark of rage. As if my insides were made of wood, that spark grew, turning into a wild fire. I couldn't think properly. I knew there had to be a reason, but what he said was the only thing I could figure out with the way my mind was acting. Grasping at the worst things instead of the best thing I tried to always see. "You killed Mother, Father, Sasuke, the clan. You killed all of them just for power." I couldn't believe it, but I growled the words. It seemed as if the small spark had become an out of control wildfire. What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I get it under control like usual? It sickened me, but I suddenly wanted to have Itachi's blood staining my hands just like my clan's blood was smeared on his sword.

I thought of Sasuke most of all, though. He was my twin. My other half. Without him, it was as if a part of me had suddenly disappeared. I saw him in my mind's eyes, hearing him call me shrimp as he ran from my wrath. And hanging on Itachi's every word, seeing him as the ultimate hero. And Itachi had killed him without reason. Power? What kind of sick, twisted reason was that to kill your whole clan?

Which is exactly why Itachi wouldn't do it, a small voice insisted, but that reasonable voice was swallowed by the flame burning within me.

I wanted to make Itachi suffer just as he'd made the clan. They'd done nothing wrong. They were innocent. Yet he'd taken their lives. They deserved justice. I knew I would never think this way if I was thinking clearly, but all I could think of now was the best, slowest way to kill Itachi.

Despite the way it sickened me, I embraced it, letting the flame eat away the pain that had bloomed within me. Whenever I felt great pain, I always tried to let another emotion cover it up. I'd just never imagined it would be this dark, uncontrollable rage.

"Itachi!" I screeched, lunging at him.

**Itachi**

He panted, climbing the hill. "I'm sorry, Sasaui," he murmured, resting against a nearby tree. Itachi looked down at the place that had once been his home. Now, however, it a complete wreck. Most of the houses were barely staying up.

The pain he'd tried to seal away before ate at him. He pushed it back down. Itachi had done the right thing. He'd saved the village from the coup his family had planned. At least he had to deal with the burden of their deaths instead of the other people who would fight back. The other people who knew them.

Itachi leaned back, letting his emotions sink into the darkness. He had to do it. If not, the anguish of what he'd just done would drive him insane before he made sure that Sasuke was strong. He, at least, was safe. He'd slowly gain power. Power that would help him survive in the harsh world of Shinobi.

Sasaui, however, was a different story. Itachi sighed, looking at his home one last time before he got to his feet, walking through the forest. The shadows covered him, just like the shadows within him covered up his emotions, pushing them down to the very depths of his being.


	6. Episode 6: Pain

I don't know what woke me up first. It could have been the noise of the animals, or it could have been water falling from above. My eyes, despite still being closed, narrowed. Why did I feel rain? The animal noise I could explain. I had left the window on the wall behind my bed. That would also be my excuse for the rain if it wasn't for how much of it actually hit me.

Grumbling about how strong the wind must be, I sat up. My eyes were still closed, the tiredness making them almost impossible to open. My body was sore and stiff, reluctant to do any kind of movement. My bed felt strange. Was I actually on the couch? That was one of the two things that made me open my eyes. The other thing was I felt something crawling on my leg.

I shrieked in surprise when I saw a squirrel, which looked at me like I was a science experiment. What was a squirrel doing in my-

Wait. I stiffened as I looked at the surrounding area. No, I wasn't in my room. I was in a dome in the earth, the ground around me soft dirt. What was going on? Why was I in a type of crater?

The memories of the night before hit harder than a charging rhino. I doubled over, gasping for air. Itachi showing me with genjutsu him massacring everyone. Mother and Father as Itachi brought his sword down, finishing them off. Sasuke, limp on the street. Ai, the life slowly draining out of her. The bodies of all those people. People I'd known my entire life. People who were part of my family. People who I loved.

The hardest thing, though, was Sasuke. I kept on seeing his body, unmoving on the ground. Then what happened? I remembered dark, uncontrollable rage and then nothing. A complete blank.

Then it was probably just a dream. I'd been sleep walking and then I'd fallen in this hole. I'd slept walk a few times in my life. Itachi had always said it was as if I was trying to walk away from the nightmare I was having. And when it came to nightmares, this one was by far the worst. Itachi usually stopped me, but there was always that chance that he hadn't been able to.

_Yeah, because he'd been too busy killing everyone._

No, that couldn't be true. He wouldn't do that. It was Itachi after all. They would be waking up right now, searching for me. Nobody I loved was dead.

_What about the pain you felt?_ that annoying, negative voice questioned. No, not negative. Reasonable, which was negative at the moment.

So I countered with reason. If I'd been poked with sticks while walking or fallen or something, I could have felt the pain in the dream. Or I'd just thought I'd felt pain. I probably hadn't felt anything, just thought I did. Yeah, that made sense.

_Then prove it. Go to your house._

I squeezed my eyes shut, knowing that was the only way. I took in a deep breath, straightening. One foot went in front of the other, leading me slowly up to the top of the crater. I was in the woods right outside the Uchiha compound, I realized. Fear shot through me as I looked at my home. Why? What was I afraid of?

It wasn't until I was right outside the wall that I realized the answer - I was afraid of the truth. What if that voice in my head was right? What if it hadn't been a dream?

But Itachi wouldn't do that. He would never do that.

_Prove it._

I was really hating the voice in my head. I wanted it to just shut up. There was nothing good that would come from expecting the worst. I had to hope for the best.

_But you also need to be braced for the truth._

The voice was starting to sound like Itachi's. Maybe it was because so many times I saw him as the voice of reason. Even when it seemed like there was something unreasonable happening, he always found reason. Just like I had to right then.

I walked through a back entrance that was rarely used and always guarded. The fact that it wasn't made my stomach twist. It was just early in the morning. The guards were switching, or maybe they were hiding. They did that sometimes, just to try to lure in the threats so they could ambush them. They knew me, so they'd let me through.

_You have a reason for everything, don't you?_

I continued to walk, hating where my feet where leading me. I was walking toward the last place I'd seen Sasuke. _It was just the last place I saw him in my dream_, I told myself, squeezing my eyes shut. It had just been a dream.

I kept on repeating that to myself, praying that it was right. That there would be no signs of anything. I was in a district that was rarely used, so I wouldn't have been able to see any damage if it was real. I had to get farther in, but I stayed on the path that would lead me to the street where I'd been in my dream before it had all become a huge blank.

Continuing to pray it was just a dream, I started to drag my feet, now feeling like bricks were wrapped around them, toward the spot. When I got there, I felt like my heart had climbed into my throat, jumped out, and ran away.

There, so close to the spot Sasuke had been it had to be his, was a taped figure of a body. Sasuke's body.

I expected to collapse right then and there, but instead I clung to the hope in me, breaking into a run to the compound. There had just been another murder here. That was it. It was just a coincidence. That had to be it. It just had to be.

As I ran, tears spilled from my eyes, running down my face. I continued to cling, though, as if letting go would send my spiraling into an abyss of darkness I could never escape. It was my rope, keeping me from falling into that abyss.

"Mother! Father!" I yelled as I ran into our house. "Sasuke! Itachi!" I continued to call their names, running through the house. I didn't see any of them in their rooms, but I just told myself that they were in another room, probably the living room, discussing places I may have went to in my sleep.

It was there I got my proof. The very room that had been my last hope was the very thing that destroyed it. Splattered all over the place, caused by Itachi's blade according to the genjutsu Itachi had put me under, was my parents' blood.

It was then I lost my grip on that rope of hope. I fell into the abyss, staring at the place in front of me as the rest of the tears spilled. I let out a sudden cry, my knees buckling under me. I hit the floor, curling up into a ball. It felt as if that ball was the only thing holding me together, the pain hitting me so hard I just wanted to die. I wanted to die more than anything, to see my loved ones.

"Mommy," I sobbed. I saw her smiling face as she looked at me, greeting me as I returned to school. Her laughter when I told her my false dream of one day becoming taller than Sasuke.

"Daddy." Like my mom, I saw images of him pass through my mind. His proud eyes as he looked at my and Sasuke's report cards. Sure, he'd chided me afterward and told me I had to get from being ranked tenth to being either second or first, but he still looked proud. The note of my determination had helped with that. His worried eyes when I'd slammed my head off a rock. Sure, he was strict and pushed me and pushed me to get stronger for reasons unfathomable to me, but I loved him.

Mommy and Daddy. Two names I hadn't called my parents since I was three. Mommy had always called me a big girl, leading me to thinking I had to talk as if I was older as well. But now I felt like the young, little girl I knew I really was, afraid and alone.

The one person I'd been trying to push off forced themselves into my brain, tearing another sob from my throat. "Sasuke," I gasped. Once again he was the hardest to think about. He was my twin. He was my other half. He was my best friend. Sasuke had always been there for me, closer to me than anyone. He'd help me do anything and was always there for me.

But now he could never be there for me. Now I'd never see him again. I didn't even care if he always annoyed me by calling me Shrimp. I didn't care that he would leave me to hang out with Itachi. I didn't care that he was stronger than me. I didn't care that he was always challenging Naruto like an idiot. I only cared that he was my brother. My parents hadn't even been as close as Sasuke had been to me. Itachi hadn't even been despite the fact he had been like a hero to me. It's strange how you don't realize how close you were to someone until they're just suddenly gone. Suddenly taken away from you. Never to return.

A dark hand reached up to grasp my heart, a lonely, hurt feeling spreading through me. Nobody else in my family was alive except the person who'd done this. I still couldn't even comprehend that. When I thought of Itachi, I thought more of him as being dead than being the bad guy who killed them and ran. Knowing he was alive did nothing to help improve the darkness eating away at me.

I didn't even understand what the darkness was. I just knew it felt welcoming. Even better, it felt like an escape. A way to get away from all this pain. A way to get away from the thoughts that plagued my mind. Such as how I was all alone. Everything was gone. It was an escape from all that.

It would be so easy to let go. Just sink into it. So very, very easy….

Giving in was such a great option I almost took it. I was just about to let go completely and fall through that darkness when something suddenly yanked it away. No! I wanted it back. I wanted to escape! I wanted away from this pain!

Then a sudden thought came to me. I have no clue where it came from. _Naruto_.

Almost as if something was trying to remind me I wasn't completely alone, my mind shifted to my noisy, happy, welcoming friend. He was alive. I could go to him. Just like last time, he'd become someone else and be all mature and comfort me (A/N Just to see, was Naruto too mature in that chapter? I always think he changes into this super mature person whenever he's comforting his friends). He was a much better escape than that darkness. Even I could tell that despite being so close to sinking into it.

I managed to get to my feet, but it felt as if the pain was weighing me down, making it hard to even move. I felt such great pain it was like it was making me numb. I couldn't even feel the tears I knew were still sliding down my face.

Saying getting to the front gate was all a blur isn't a lie. I couldn't even remember it. I'd been too lost in that pain, trying to find a way out of it. Naruto was the only escape I could think of, though. Someone I cared about to be near, to at least let me know I still had someone. But that one person would never make up for the many I lost. How many people lived in the compound? Fifty? A hundred? More?

I stumbled through the village, which was mostly empty. Why? I wondered. Where was everyone? It was most likely Sunday since they'd had time to get rid of the bodies. Everyone should have been out and about, having one of their days that were breaks from school or work.

When I got to the door of Naruto's apartment, I hesitated. Did he know, or would I have to tell him? After all, the bodies had been collected. That meant everyone should know. Did he think I was dead? They wouldn't have found my body. Were they searching for me?

Finally I knocked. When nothing happened. I knocked. Then knocked again. And again. He still didn't come even though I waited about two minutes between each knocks to give him time. I tested the doorknob, and when it twisted in my grasp, I walked in.

It was dirty again, Naruto not bothering to clean up his mess. Ramen boxes were thrown around, along with milk cartons. That seemed to be his favorite food at his house, even if he didn't usually order milk at restaurants. Then he'd either order tea or soda (not sure if they have soda, but in my story, they do).

"Naruto!" I called, taking a step forward as I looked around. Now I had a few of the hallway, at least. "Naruto!" I became slightly panicked. It was extremely out there and paranoid, but momentarily I wondered if Itachi would have killed Naruto, too.

No, I told myself. He wouldn't do that.

_Yeah, and Itachi also would never have murdered the clan_.

I felt tears build again, and the only thing that stopped them was me seeing the digital alarm clock. It was noon, and it was also Tuesday.

Tuesday! But that meant I was out for four days. Wouldn't I have needed food and water? Apparently not, because I was here and alive. Right? I wasn't just some ghost and Itachi actually had killed me? Once again, out there, but I tested it. I pressed my hand against the table. My hand didn't go through it, and I felt it, so I was fine.

It also meant that I knew where Naruto was. He was at the Academy. Or ditching class to play a prank. Either way, it meant I had a reason for him not to be at home by he was alive.

Once again I found myself running, this time to the Academy, though. Momentarily I wondered if I was wrong and Sasuke was at school as well, but I quickly dismissed that thought. That was just pointless hoping that would end up crashing down on me, possibly hard enough to send me back to that darkness.

A few people were out on the streets now, looking at me once, and then suddenly looking at me again.

"Hey, isn't that-"

"No, it can't be. Sasaui Uchiha is supposed to be dead."

I ignored the people I passed, not bothering to tell them it was indeed me. I needed to get to Naruto. Right now, when I was surrounded by the darkness pain caused, he was the light. I felt as if I'd break like glass if I didn't find Naruto soon.

The village wasn't exactly gigantic, but it felt like it took me hours to get to the Academy. I was glad when I finally saw the big building sitting beside the Hokage's building, the kids already inside from recess.

It was pretty quiet inside the Academy, which was unusual. Then again, if I remembered correctly, the older kids were taking the written exams for the graduation today and needed it to be silent. It was because of this silence my steps seemed to echo in the hall, increasing that lonely feeling.

Speaking of dark feelings, it still felt like I had a strange darkness around me, trying to pull me into it. I was beginning to be tempted to just give in, to be able to rid myself of then pain immediately, but I continued to imagine Naruto's face instead, seeing his glowing, happy blue eyes. That huge smile that seemed to invite people to join in on the happiness. I didn't understand the darkness, which was one of the factors that kept me from giving in to it.

I finally got to the classroom, not even bothering to knock on the door before I pulled it open. I was too eager to see Naruto, to at least have someone in my life I cared about who wasn't dead.

"May I-" Iruka-sensei froze mid sentence as he looked at me, his eyes wide and his mouth forming an o. "Sasaui."

The moment he said my name, everyone turned to look at me. My gaze swept the crowd to find a familiar blond, pausing on some dark hair. Before I could really look at the person, everyone swarmed me.

I couldn't make out any distinct words. I knew there were questions mixed in with the many statements. All of them wondering how I was alive, others saying they were really happy I was alive.

"Sasaui!" I heard two voices call out over the rest. The first voice obviously belonged to Naruto. The second one…. No, it couldn't be him. He was dead.

Naruto shoved everyone out of the way, even hitting one of them in the eye when he shoved back. He muttered a curse word directed toward the boy before walking up to me. I thought he would run up and hug me, but instead he smiled gently at me and stepped out of the way for someone else to get through.

"Sasuke," I mouthed, feeling my knees go weak again. I almost hit the floor when my legs gave, but Sasuke was there, catching me.

"Sasaui," he murmured. Tears sprouted to the surface of his eyes, making them shimmer with water. "Sasaui!" He all but squashed me against his chest. I felt his tears run down my temple, joining my own when I started crying as well. I wrapped my arms around him, shaking I was crying so hard.

He was alive! Sasuke was alive! My twin, my other half, he was alive. Itachi hadn't let me completely alone. He hadn't killed Sasuke. He'd left him alive, and even though he'd killed my entire clan, I wanted to hug Itachi for that. I wasn't completely alone. I hadn't lost the person closest to me. I still had Sasuke.

****

Iruka had sent for some medics, which was why I was now in a hospital bed, Sasuke and Naruto in the room with me. Hinata had wanted to come, too, but Iruka had put his foot down at letting Naruto and Sasuke because then all my minor friends wanted to go. I think they mostly wanted out of class since we had a test today as well.

The darkness had begun to recede, going to wherever it was it had come from. It was as if Naruto and Sasuke had been lights that pushed it away. And that was just fine with me. I'd rather them be my light than me give in to that darkness, no matter how tempting it may have been.

"How're what's up?" Naruto asked.

"Fine, I guess. I'm just really in need of some nutrients and I have a few bruises and I'm almost completely out of chakra. The doc says that it's coming back slower than usual," I replied. They'd just come in after the doctor checked me out, but, as I'd just told them, I was fine.

"That's good," Sasuke said, smiling. But it was completely fake and faded instantly. For a few minutes, Naruto and Sasuke just stared at me. His eyes suddenly watered again, but he blinked, the tears gone when his eyes opened, and he looked away. "I was…" He paused, glancing at Naruto. "We were afraid you'd…. That you'd gone with him….. They couldn't find your body and….." Okay, he was definitely tearing up.

"I told him you'd never do that, but both of us were a little scared because of what Itachi did," Naruto said. "We both never thought he'd do that, so we were just afraid it would be the same case with you." His eyes were shimmering, too, but like Sasuke, he was holding his tears back.

The moment Naruto had said Itachi's name, Sasuke's eyes had hardened, so I wasn't even sure he heard me while I assured them that I'd never do that. My eyes narrowed as I tried to decipher the meaning, and when I did, my own eyes hardened. "Naruto, I'm sorry since I know you want to talk to me, but can I talk to Sasuke." Then I added, "Alone."

Naruto looked hurt, but he nodded and went out of the room.

"Why'd you send-"

"Sasuke!" I suddenly groaned.

He jumped in surprise. "What?"

"Don't even think about it." Oh great, our parents had died just recently and I already felt like I had to be the grown up.

"Think about what?" Even as I asked, his eyes had become cold stones, already realizing what I was talking about.

"You want revenge, and we both know it," I said. It was then that the stare down between use began, him trying to make me waver while I did the same. He seemed to be searching my eyes for something, and whatever he found, or possibly didn't find, made him sigh, his shoulders slumping.

"You've got to be kidding me, Sasaui," Sasuke said. "He killed our entire clan. He could have killed you, and you just want me to let it go. He Iasked/I us to take revenge. He asked me, at least."

"Sasuke, I know that Itachi wouldn't do that-" I started, but as I had been expecting but hoping wouldn't happen, Sasuke interrupted.

"Well, guess what, Sasaui, he did!" Sasuke stared down at his legs, balling his hands into fists. "He killed everyone. He left you out in the forest to die. For all we know, he could have been leaving you for the animals to eat, just so you'd die slower. Who knows what's in his twisted mind? And yet you just want me to not do anything? To just let it go?" He was shouting each and every word now, his entire body shaking as if the anger made it so he couldn't stay still.

"Let me finish, Sasuke!" I snapped, surprising the both of us. I sighed, shaking my head at myself. "You didn't let me finish. I was going to say that Itachi wouldn't do it without a reason."

"Sasaui-" Sasuke began.

"I want you to promise me that you won't kill him until we find out his reason, okay? Promise me!"

"But-"

"Please, Sasuke. Just promise me this."

He ground his teeth, his brain working overtime. He looked at me, slowly frowning. "Sasaui," Sasuke murmured. He sighed. "You always try to look at the good side of people, don't you?" He smiled softly. "Yeah, I promise. It makes sense. He wouldn't do it without a reason."

I smiled, reaching out to grab his hand. I squeezed it, feeling my eye lids grow heavy. I kept Sasuke's hand gripped firmly in mine, refusing to let go. I couldn't. I was afraid if I did, he'd vanish. That if I did, I'd wake up to find out that he was actually dead, or he'd turn into a ghost. Now I knew he was solid, though, and alive. "Tell Naruto I'll talk to him the moment I wake up."

I slowly slipped into unconscious, my last thoughts of Sasuke and Naruto. They were two people I needed. They would help my heart slowly mend, and Naruto and I would do the same for Sasuke. That was the only way we'd get through this. We had to do this together. We were each others light, helping guide them in the darkness. Sasuke and I helped Naruto from the darkness of the Kyuubi. Naruto and Sasuke helped me from the darkness that I'd been so close to retreating to just to get away from the pain. And Naruto and I would be the light that helped Sasuke stay away from the dark path of revenge he wanted to take.

So we all needed each other to stay away from our own darkness. I may not need as much help as Naruto and Sasuke, but I'd still be there to help them fight their own darkness.


	7. Episode 7: Butterfly Child

I flew up in my bed, my breathing heavy as tears poured down my cheeks. I glanced at Sasuke. We were both in the room of the apartment the Hokage had given us. He'd offered to let us get a new apartment with two rooms, but we'd decided we wanted to be there in case something like this happened to the other.

It had happened again. I'd had the nightmares for the six nights that I've been out of the hospital. They just kept on hitting, slowly getting worse and worse. But it was okay. Sasuke was alive, very unlike what happened in my dreams.

Letting out a groan, I fell back onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling. Sasuke stirred a little, but unlike the last five times, he wasn't awakened by me screaming for him, believing he actually had died, that the past six days were all a dream.

How long would they last? I wondered. Would I be tortured by the dreams my entire life? Or would they fade over time? I had no clue, but I hoped they'd end soon.

****

Unbeknownst to our hero, far away, a young child was going through similar pain to what she'd gone through not long ago. Who'd go through the same suffering. And who would go for revenge against the ones who took what he cared most about.

****

A young boy stared ahead at the burning village, his body shaking. His face had blood splatters on it, but they'd dried so they just looked like dark spots on his pale face. His white hair was darkened by all the dirt and mud mixed in with it. "No," he whispered. "No!"

His entire body burned, just like it always did when he was in great emotional pain, but that was just something that the Gisei had to deal with. Tears streamed from his dark blue eyes, dropping onto his blue pants. He doubled in on himself, screaming as it felt as if the world was trying to crush him.

His mother. His brother and sister. All his loved ones. Gone. Taken away from him. All of them murdered by _them_. They were innocent. They hadn't done anything. And suddenly _they_ had attacked his clan, completely massacring them.

"No!" he screamed yet again. It was just too hard to believe. His dad had died by Itheir/I hands before he'd even been born. That was why he'd been given his name. Kataki, the word for revenge. Even as an infant, his mother had given him the destiny to avenge his father. Had she known he'd have to avenge them as well? The pain built within him, but another part overflowed with rage. What was he doing, crying his heart out, when he needed to be training to kill _them_. To get rid of every last one of _them_.

Kataki fell sideways onto the ground, the cold earth cooling the skin the fire on his village had heated. He would avenge his family. That he was sure of. He'd trained his whole life to avenge his father. Why would it be any harder to avenge his entire clan? Either way, he'd do it. No matter what the cost was. Even if it meant death.

He stayed like that, watching his village burn, the screams of his friends and family plaguing his mind. Kataki stayed alert even though he knew _they_ had left. He'd watched _them_ leave. It was easy to get lost in his memories, though, seeing his mother beheaded, his brother struck to the heart once from the front, and then again a few moments later from the back. He hadn't even had time to summon the sword, the piece that summoned it now around Kataki's neck.

He'd use it. Oh, he'd use it. And with it, he'd kill the ones responsible. _They'd_ pay. No matter what the cost, he'd make sure of that.

****

"Darn it," I muttered when Iruka called out another list of names. Now both Naruto and Sasuke were in groups that didn't have me. We were getting into teams to play capture the scroll with three teams, ten kids in each. Except mine, apparently, since we had thirty-one students.

Calling out the last list of names, the team already being obvious to everyone since they were the only kids left, he finally got to my name. "Sasaui, and finally Chouji."

I hadn't heard the rest of the list. I'd only heard my name and Chouji's since he'd been right after me. I glanced at him. He was behind me, sitting beside his friend, Shikamaru. The kid with the spiky ponytail sighed. "What a drag." He was on Sasuke's team, but I didn't think he cared, even though some might think that mean that they were guaranteed a win with very little to do. Shikamaru, however, apparently just thought doing it was going to be a waste of time.

"Don't worry, Shikamaru. You'll probably just have to watch and tell them if anyone crosses into your guys' territory," Chouji assured his friend.

"That still means I have to yell that they're there."

I couldn't help but chuckle, deciding to end my eavesdropping then. But I did beginning hearing the other kid's complaints. "Great. We get the loser Akimichi kid. He's as bad as Naruto if not worse. That fat idiot isn't going to do us any favors."

"Yeah. We are so going to lose. I thought having Sasaui on our team might at least give us a chance of not losing in ten minutes, but I see that's not going to happen."

I glared, getting to my feet. Naruto and Sasuke glanced at me, but I didn't say a word to them. I was tired of how people talked bad about others. This was something, I noted, that had bugged me more since I met Naruto. Now it just down right irritated me when before it just made me think they were both jerks and idiots. "I'll be back. See you at Capture the Scroll." I knew I'd see them. The two of them were jerks who made sure I didn't win. They'd both come at me at once, even if they weren't on the same team. Each time they were on different teams, they'd vary who won. I thought it was Naruto's turn to win, but I wasn't sure. The couple times I was in one of their groups, possibly even both, they'd tease me about how this time I wouldn't lose.

Chouji and Shikamaru watched me as I walked up and sat down beside him, a smile on my face. "Hey there, team-mate. You ready to play?"

The two boys eyed me, as if they expected to see something fake in my smile. "Is this the first time we've been on a team together?"

Chouji hesitated before nodding. "I think so."

"Then you want to help me out? I'm not sure if you know this, but the two buttholes known as my friends gang up on me whenever we play," I explained. "Could you help so that it's not two against one?"

Chouji looked skeptical. "You want me to help?" he asked. He glanced over at Shikamaru, a silent question in his eyes. Shikamaru shrugged in response to that question.

"Yeah. I think it would be fun," I said, feeling gazes on me. I could almost imagine the incredulous looks they were giving me. I'd seen Chouji play Ninja a few times. He was admittedly not one of the best and one of the least energetic, but he was really nice. I remembered seeing him untangle a butterfly from a web once. I hadn't talked to him before or ever thought of becoming his friend, but I was willing to change that. "I trust that you'll do everything you can to win." It was true. He may not win, but I at least new that he would try.

After a moment of eyeing me, still seeming like he didn't believe this, he smiled and nodded. "Sure. That would make it fair, I guess. Plus I'll have something to do instead of being stuck observing," he said, still smiling. He seemed happier than he usually did in class.

I nodded. "Then it's settled. You and me against Naruto and Sasuke."

****

I stood in front of the log, our scroll, a blue one with white designs, rested on top of it, its position making it easy for anyone to see. Chouji stood beside me, his eyes darting around as he searched for any enemies. "Don't worry. When Naruto and Sasuke come, you'll notice," I informed him.

Chouji nodded, but he still looked around. It seemed as if he was determined to stop them. His hands were clenched and anyone else looking at him would think he was determined, but I could tell from looking into his eyes he was something else as well. He was scared. Of what, though, I wasn't sure.

There was only about two other kids there with us, the others off to retrieve the scrolls. My eyes scanned the forest to make sure that nobody sneaked into our part of the forest, knowing that Naruto and Sasuke weren't the only ones with their eyes set on our scroll.

Despite this fact, the first person I saw was the blue eyes, spiky blond kid who I'd befriended a while ago. Sasuke burst into the clearing behind him, a smirk on his face as he raced forward. Naruto started to go toward me, but receiving an order from Sasuke he apparently decided was worth following, he veered toward Chouji.

Naruto and Chouji were close together, so he got to him first. Chouji bit his lip, making a feeble attempt at a punch. Naruto blocked with his forearm, punching the Akimichi's now defenseless side. Chouji yelped, backing away. He swung his arm, aiming for the blond's face. Naruto leaned back, bringing up his leg and kicking Chouji in the chest.

I couldn't exactly pay attention to Sasuke when he got to me. I kept on glancing back at Chouji and Naruto. Chouji was getting his butt kicked. He scrambled away from Naruto one time he tripped him. He forced himself to his feet, his legs shaking as he held up his hands to defend. Why was he so scared?

I'd been paying so much attention to their fight that I didn't even get close to blocking Sasuke's incoming punch, slamming into my face. I stumbled back, my cheek throbbing. I dodged his next punch, and then the next one I veered off track. Sasuke tried to kick me in the side, but I used my elbow to block.

Biting down on my lip, I made quick decision. I glanced over at a boy named Kiba, who was watching our battle intently. He caught my eyes, raising an eyebrow when I jerked my chin toward Sasuke. After a moment, he frowned but nodded. He ran forward, his puppy trailing behind him. I ducked to avoid Sasuke's high kick, jumping forward to tackle him. When he was on the ground, I did a front roll. I only stopped long enough to see Kiba fighting with Sasuke before I charged at Naruto.

Chouji had hit the ground again, wincing as he caught himself. Naruto went to punch him in the face, but I kicked him in the stomach to stop him. Naruto, not expecting me in the least, was shocked enough that he keeled over, not having a chance to brace himself. I had to give it to Chouji, he was smart. Chouji punched at Naruto's face. It seemed weak, though, as if he was hesitated at the very thought of attacking Naruto. He did, though, causing Naruto to step back and stumble over his own feet.

"Sasaui!" Kiba called from behind me.

I glanced back to see that Sasuke had our scroll in his hand, racing for the border. I ran after him, leaping at him. I snagged his ankle, making him go down. Both Sasuke and I slammed into the ground. I scrambled in front of him, snatching up the scroll. Sasuke pulled the same stunt I had, grabbing my ankle and yanking it so that I went down. I scrambled back toward our log, but once again someone was there to deal with. Naruto was above me, Chouji running to catch up to the demon holder. He smiled, snatching the scroll from my hand. He made a wild dash for his border, laughing triumphantly.

He'd run toward Chouji, so he was on him once again.

****

He saw Naruto running with the scroll, his black eyes widening. Naruto had managed to get the scroll from Sasaui. Chouji bit his lip as he came to a stop. Naruto was running at him anyway, so that way he didn't have to waste his energy. He didn't want to fight anymore, though. The blond boy was faster, Chouji's extra weight both slowing him down and his lack of stamina making him wear fast. Not only that, but his face throbbed from one of Naruto's punches.

And yet he still didn't want to give up even if he didn't want to fight anymore.

_I trust that you'll do everything you can to win_.

That was the first time since he'd first met Shikamaru that he'd felt like someone besides his parents (who were more or less obligated to believe in him unless they were jerks, which they weren't) believed in him. She hadn't said that they would win. That had been something he'd noticed automatically. She'd just said she knew he'd do everything he could. Which he hadn't, and he wasn't about to let that faith that Sasaui had in him crumble.

His lips now pursed and his eyes set with determination, Chouji got into a fighting stance. When Naruto got to him, confidence shining in his blue eyes, Chouji made the first move, surprising the Uzumaki. He aimed for his face, and in his surprise at the Akimichi's attack and sudden speed gain, Naruto failed to block or dodge.

"I'm not going to let Sasaui down," Chouji said, clenching his fists as he tried again. This time Naruto expected it, though, and stepped to the side. This time Chouji decided to use his chubbiness against Naruto and body slammed him, forcing them both to hit the ground. Chouji sat on Naruto's stomach, only managing to hold down the squirming boy's left arm, making a quick grab for the scroll. Before he could, though, Naruto hit him in the face with such power that before Chouji would have rolled off to get away. Now, however, he was determined to at least stall Naruto long enough for Sasaui to get to them.

Chouji, now trying to pin down Naruto's free arm, glanced up really quick to see what was going on around them. He wanted to groan when he saw she and Sasuke were in another battle, the other kids just standing back and watching. It was the first time the two boys hadn't managed to quickly take the scroll. Then again, before few had been brave enough to help because the boys knew that Sasuke could kick their butts and the girls, well, they were Sasuke's fan girls. A few kids from the other teams made moves toward Naruto and Chouji, but the members on their team stopped them. One of the kids managed to break through that line of defense, but then he suddenly stopped.

Chouji grinned when he saw why. Shikamaru was sitting on a rock a few feet away, a dark grey line attaching from below Shikamaru and the boy. It was his shadow possession jutsu. Luckily it was one of the boys from the other team, so he had an excuse to stop him.

"Don't be so troublesome. Just let them finish their little scrabble, okay?" He sent Chouji a grin before nodding back at Naruto. Chouji grinned back before looking down at Naruto, trying to guess what he'd do next to evade his grip. Chouji feinted a grab for Naruto's arm, but then he maneuvered away and toward Naruto's left arm, taking the scroll from his grasp. Chouji rolled off the Uzumaki. He glanced around, trying to figure out what he could do now that he had the scroll.

He could always hide in the rocky area of the forest. There was only one problem, though. There was a semi-circle around them, the only way out the very edge of the border, and the rocky area was behind them. But then he'd chance one of the others on the other side getting him. Then he glanced at the very area he'd thought of and sighed in relief. Everyone was distracted either by Sasaui and Sasuke's fight or their own little battle, so nobody was there to see him go around.

Somehow finding more energy, he ran around the crowd so he could go hide. Very few noticed him, but the ones who did couldn't chase him due to them being engaged with one of his team-mates.

He was so focused on avoiding all the kids in the semi-circle that he didn't notice the Hyuuga heir until he almost plowed into her. Chouji skidded to a stop, his eyes locking on the Hyuuga's pale ones. Hinata yelped, stepping back. She'd apparently been in the back to avoid the battling, but now here she was, face to face with the one with the scroll.

"Hinata, get him!" Naruto called. "Grab the scroll and run!"

Hinata's gaze flickered to her crush. He was half way up, but seeing that Chouji was now right in front of one of his team-mates, he'd paused. And now he was telling her to fight him for the scroll. She didn't know Chouji well, but she knew that he wasn't the strongest of people. He, like herself, was one of the weaker kids in the class. Could she stop him, though? Either way, Naruto had asked her, and she was going to try.

Chouji saw the fight in Hinata's eyes a moment before she attacked. She shoved with her open palm, used to the Hyuuga style of battle even though she wasn't entirely able to use the Byakugan yet. That was something she was still training to achieve. The force was enough to make Chouji stumble back though, so she continued, pressing him back.

She wasn't too powerful, Chouji noted. She could push him, but it only throbbed for a second, if not less. But he was still looking at her eyes. They were like his, wanting to do what someone wanted them to do, wanting to keep their faith in them high. He knew that the young girl wasn't Naruto's friend. Naruto rarely even paid attention to her unless to talk a little while Sasaui was hanging out with her. And Sasaui was one of her only friends. Did few people have faith in her as well? Did people mostly ignore her?

Sadness built within Chouji and he suddenly wanted to let go of the scroll. How was it right to make her go through what he did? Of feeling invisible. Sure, he was used to it. He didn't really mind. He had Shikamaru after all. But was Hinata used to it, or did it hurt her to have such few friends? Would they pay attention if she took the scroll? If she succeeded where Naruto had failed? If she was the one to get the scroll across?

But he couldn't. Sasaui believed in him. She trusted him to do everything he could.

He glanced over at Sasaui, trying to figure out what to do. And it was then he found out. Chouji smiled and, when Hinata slammed her opened hand into Chouji's left arm, forcing his left hand up a little from impact, the very hand that held the scroll, he let go.

**Sasaui**

Anyone else who would have watched it wouldn't have realized it was purposeful. That Chouji'd had ever intention of releasing the scroll. I had, though. When he'd looked me in the eyes, I'd understood. He wanted to let Hinata have the scroll.

It was that very kindness that I knew very people didn't see. Chouji understood that Hinata had very few friends. So did he. He must have thought of how great it would be for her to win the game for her team. I'd thought the very same thing as I'd watched. Sasuke had still been trying to fight me, but I'd just evaded him, my speed besting his. As soon as I'd found out Hinata was going up against Chouji, I hadn't been able to pry my gaze away. It was one person I hoped to make my friend against my friend. I'd already expected the fight against Naruto, but not against Hinata. She had that same kindness and gentleness of Chouji, which was what had made the battle interesting. But due to her crush on Naruto, her drive to be seen by him had caused her to fight back in a battle she'd usually try to avoid.

And when Chouji had looked at me, I'd felt as if he was asking permission to let Hinata take the glory. He didn't need it. I wasn't sure what his drive had been, but he wasn't someone who was going to force himself into the spotlight. He didn't have to be the hero.

Which was one thing that I really liked about him. So I'd nodded, completely understanding why he'd want to do it. I was actually happy for Hinata as well as she caught the scroll that Chouji had sent her way. She fumbled for a second before securing her grip on it. Hinata looked at it, surprised.

"Go, Hinata! Go!" her team-mates called.

"Cross the border," Naruto called to her.

As if Naruto's voice had knocked her out of her trance, Hinata rushed toward the invisible line that marked the boundary lines. A few of my team-mates tried to get to her, but they were too far away.

Hinata crossed the line.

Cheering broke out from Naruto's team, most of them chanting Hinata's name. Naruto ran up to her and grinned. "Great job, Hinata," he said.

Even from where I was, I could see Hinata's face turn red. She stuttered out something, but that, however, I didn't catch.

"I can't believe you did that," Sasuke said.

I glanced at him, putting on my best confused face. He'd noticed. Of course he'd noticed. He'd inherited the all-knowingness that another one of my family members had. "What're you talking about?"

"You let Chouji let go of the scroll, that's what," my twin said, stuffing his hands in his pocket as the two of us stared at the crowd of people around Hinata. "It seems so much like something you'd do."

"Which is exactly why I let him do it," I said.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Hn."

"Hn," I mocked, smiling when he glared at me.

His eyes flickered to the right before returning to me. "Here comes Mr. Nice," Sasuke said.

I glanced over to find out Mr. Nice was Chouji, who was smiling apologetically. "I'm really sorry, Sasaui. I let the other team win," he said.

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Sasuke already knows that you let go of the scroll on purpose," I informed him.

Chouji smiled then. "It's great to see her so happy, huh?" he said without even looking back at Hinata.

I nodded. "That was really nice, Chouji."

"Hence Mr. Nice," Sasuke muttered. I elbowed him while Chouji gave him a confused look.

"Anyway," I went on, deciding to offer him something I'd come up with while watching him fight, "I was wondering if perhaps you'd like to come train with me later. Sasuke and Naruto would be there, but Naruto's got detention and Sasuke wants to do some alone training."

Chouji's eyes glowed with happiness. "Really? You want to train later?"

I couldn't help but feel sad. Everyone were such jerks to him. They all insulted him and some even bullied him. A few times I'd been a person to report that bullying, but it still continued. I began to wonder why I hadn't tried to become his friend sooner.

"Yeah. Unlike this idiot here-" I gestured toward Sasuke- "I'm not number one in class, but I'm sure I can help you out with taijutsu." The one thing I'd been worried about when making the offer was that he'd be offended, but he wasn't. He actually seemed grateful.

"Thanks. That would really help." He glanced over his shoulder at his Nara friend. "Can Shikamaru come, too?" he asked.

I nodded. "If he want, sure. The more there is the better. One thing we don't know, the other person might just know," I said.

Chouji smiled. "Great. I'll go tell him." With that, Chouji turned and ran toward Shikamaru.

"Looks like you've got a new friend."

As I watched Chouji walking away, I grinned. "Yeah, I guess so."

****

I stood in the clearing outside the Konoha gates, stretching as I waited for Chouji and Shikamaru. I stretched my joints by doing wind mills before grabbing my left ankle and bringing my leg up.

Something rustled to my right, making me look. The red haired Akimichi walked out, smiling apologetically. "I'm sorry I'm late. I didn't think the clearing was this far. If you hadn't told me after school where to find it, I swear I never would have."

"It's fine," I said, releasing my ankle. "I'm used to having to wait about ten more minutes for Naruto to get here. Or I'm the one who's late."

"So the time you start to train is flexible?" Chouji commented. I grinned and nodded. "What do we do, by the way?"

I examined him, trying to figure that out. I was used to Sasuke leading the training since he enjoyed being the leader. "I guess we could fight and we can see what needs improvement." I got into a fighting stance, but then I paused. "And if I mess up, please point it out, because neither of us are even close to perfect."

Chouji nodded, getting into his own fighting stance. I shook my head at once. "Don't keep your hands so low right now. Iruka-sensei says until we're fast enough, we should keep them high to protect our face."

Without making a comment, he did as I said, waiting to see if I had any more things to point out. I simply nodded to tell him he was fine. When I just stood there, Chouji decided it was time to attack and charged.

"You shouldn't just charge you opponent like that," I said, sidestepping. "For one, you dropped your hands. Second, if I had put my fist out, your force would have added to mine and you would have been down already."

"Thanks," Chouji said, his hands instantly returning to protect his face. I made a punch at face, something that was simple and easy to see. But he hesitated, allowing my fist to get so close he couldn't block before he even moved.

I dropped my hands, raising an eyebrow. "Chouji?" I began, watching as he dropped his gaze. "Chouji, are you afraid of me?"

Chouji wouldn't meet my eyes. "I just don't really want to get hurt," he replied.

I sighed, understanding the feeling. Some people were still afraid of pain. I used to be terrified, but I'd fought so much and got hit so much when I was young I was used to it. Others, however, hadn't been trained since they could walk. "Don't worry. We're still Academy students. None of us are really strong enough to do too much. I probably won't hurt you any more than Naruto did. And just like Naruto, the pain won't last."

Chouji winced but nodded. "His punches hurt, but it _did_ fade," he admitted. He looked at me for a second, and then his eyes narrowed with determination. He ran forward, keeping his head back and his arms up. He feinted a punch, the feint unexpected so I raised my arms to block. Then he kicked at my side, the kick landing. It wasn't too powerful, but my side did throb.

"Great job, Chouji. That was awesome," I complimented. I was telling the truth. When he had drive, Chouji was pretty good.

But he had let his guard down with the compliment. I sighed, deciding I had to let him know the hard way not to let things like that get to his head and make him drop his guard. I raised my hand, drew it back, and flung my fist forward. He glanced at my fist, but then something else caught his attention behind me, and his eyes widened.

Moving with more speed than I'd ever seen from him, he jumped at me. My eyes narrowed, going to hit him in the face just to show him how stupid that was, but something in his eyes stopped me. It was fear. Fear so strong it was like he was seeing a nightmare.

Chouji's sudden weight made me hit the ground. The breath was knocked out of me, but I understood why he'd done it when I saw the barrage of kunai that flew over us. When the kunai were gone, Chouji slowly pushed himself up, standing and getting between me and the one who had done it.

Confused, I go tot my feet as well and turned. My blood froze in my veins, an icy hand traveling up my spine.

Standing at the edge of the clearing, still wearing his Anbu outfit, his eyes a coal black, was none other than _him_.

"Itachi," I breathed.


	8. Episode 8: Mission of LIfe

_"Itachi," I breathed._

My brother stared at me, his eyes locked on mine. A mixture of emotions surfaced within me - sorrow, pain, joy from before _that_ event happened, when I still had my entirely family, and fear. At first the fear was overwhelming, but after that the other emotions pushed most of it down.

"Sasaui," Itachi said in a form of acknowledgment.

Chouji glanced between Itachi and me, a question in his gaze. I couldn't answer that question, though. I wasn't even sure how I had said Itachi's name. My heart hammered against my rib cage, as if it was trying to escape while my body was still frozen.

My eyes suddenly stung. When something wet traveled down my cheek, I realized I was crying. My body began to tremble, the images he'd shown me with his Sharingan flashing through my mind. Gaining a mind of its own, my body began to move toward Itachi.

"Sasaui," Chouji began, beginning to grab my wrist. He paused, though. Very few kids knew who killed my clan even if they knew my clan had been murdered, so even though Chouji probably knew who Itachi was, he wouldn't know that he was the reason my entire clan was no more. He did, however, know that he'd just threw kunai at us. Apparently thinking I wasn't dumb enough to approach a killer (which I apparently was) and understanding that I knew him, Chouji dropped his hand, but his eyes remained on me.

I was only eight, but even when I was six I would have known I was being an idiot for walking toward Itachi. Itachi, the very person who I might have to kill. Itachi, the one who had killed everyone. Itachi, the one who I was supposed to hate. Itachi, my older brother. That last thought found its way into my mind without my permission, but I couldn't exactly take it back. Tears were still streaming down my face, my heart still trying to escape, and both Itachi and Chouji were still staring at me, watching to see what I'd do. It seemed as if the outside world was completely unaware of the moment of white hot pain that went through me for a second before fading. It was still there, but I couldn't feel it. I didn't even know how that was possible, but it was more like I could sense it there.

They got their answer to what I was going to do when I got to Itachi. When I stopped in front of him, the trembling got worse. In fact, it got so bad my legs buckled under me. My hand, I found out with surprise, had already been heading toward Itachi's wrist, so I grabbed it as I fell.

The moment my knees hit the ground, I started to sob. True, body wracking sobs that made me wonder where all the tears could come from. More than once I'd wondered about the next time I would see Itachi. In one version I was fearless and ready to face Itachi. In another I was scared, but I couldn't let Sasuke face Itachi by himself. There were a few other scenarios I'd created, but not once had I done this.

"Why?" I asked, pressing his hand against my forehead. Both my hands were wrapped around his, as if I was afraid he would escape. His hands, I noted, were colder than before. "Why, Itachi? Why did you do it?"

"Sasaui?" Itachi's voice was cold, sending a chill down my spine. I looked up to see something that hadn't been in his coal colored eyes before - rage. The very hand I was holding shot forward, moving so fast I let go in surprise. His fingers curled around the cloth at my neck, lifting me off my knees. I dangled there, my feet off the ground, as Itachi held me at eye level. He searched my eyes for something, but apparently he didn't find it because his anger grew. "Why don't you hate me?"

I was shocked by his words, but I couldn't even think of a way to respond. Instead I said the same word as before. "Why?" It seemed as if that was the word that got stuck in my mind the most. First it had been the only thing I could think with Naruto, and now it was the only think I could think with Itachi.

Itachi sighed, almost sounding disappointed. "Well, you failed that test." Itachi looked me in the eyes, and for the first time, I actually looked at them. They looked… wrong. "Might as well move on to the next." He released me, his other arm pulled back already. I remained in the air for a second, and then Itachi hit me in the gut.

Even as I flew back, my eyes were still on his. Sure, I hadn't seen him in a week and I didn't know him as well as I'd thought I had, but Itachi's darkness wasn't the same as the darkness I now as in Itachi's eyes. This darkness was sick and twisted, burning like black flames. The darkness I'd seen in Itachi's eyes _that_ night had been cold and dead, mirroring obsidian stone in water.

I slammed into a tree trunk, sliding down onto the ground. "I did it because our pathetic clan was holding me back. You should be thanking me, Sasaui. "Now-"

"Shut up!" I snapped, my eyes narrowing. "Don't you dare say that!" Rage boiled within me. Maybe it was childish, but I still held on to that hope that Itachi had a perfectly good reason for what he had done. And now this guy was here, trying to destroy that hope. I wouldn't allow it. "I don't want to hear _your_ bull crap. I want to hear _Itachi's_ reason."

I could have sworn I saw surprise in his dark eyes, but it was gone so quickly that I wasn't sure. "What do you mean, little sister?"

"Don't call me that. You're not Itachi!" I yelled. "You can mimic Itachi's body, but you can't copy his eyes. *They let you see one's heart. Nobody can copy that."* I glared at the impostor.

An evil, twisted smile spread across his face, looking wrong on the face of my brother. "It looks like I only succeeded with one of the tests while in this form." His eyes flickered toward Chouji, who had been silent since he had said my name. "I'll just test you another way." Moving faster than my eyes could follow, the impostor ran at Chouji. He skidded to a halt behind the chubby boy, his arm wrapping around his throat so that his forearm pressed against his windpipe. Impostor Itachi brought him up with mere force and pressed him against his chest, making it harder for Chouji to get away and easier for him to choke my friend.

"Let go of him!" I shouted, pushing off the tree trunk. At first I stumbled, but then I regained my balance. I ran at the impostor, but when I was close, he kicked me in the chest. I flew back, my shoulders hitting the ground first so that I rolled. I almost slammed into the tree again.

"You'll have to do better than that if you want to save your little friend here," the impostor said, watching as I got to my feet. I attempted the same rushing tactic as before but got the same results. "You're a weakling. You'll never find out the reason you find so important." His eyes narrowed when another thought occurred to him. "You'll never be able to keep Sasuke from succumbing to his hate."

That comment made me flinch. I tried not to think of it, but there was hatred within him that had showed itself occasionally since the week everything had happened. I had feared most of those times about the very issue the impostor had just brought up. "Shut up." Unlike before, my voice was more of a whisper. "He promised me he'd find out his reason. If he was brought down by his hatred, he wouldn't promise that."

"He'll fall because you're too weak to stop him."

"Just shut up already!" I ran forward, this time jumping over his kick. I delivered a round house kick, but he caught it with his free hand. I punched at his face, hoping he'd do what I wanted him to do. And he did.

The impostor dropped Chouji, who had recently fainted from the lack of oxygen, using the hand that had been connected to that arm to catch my fist. Before I could either hit or kick him with my free limbs, he threw me back. I skidded to a halt, tensing as I waited for the impostor to do something.

He chuckled. "Nicely done," he complimented. "You have skills of your own. But there's one problem with them." He brought his thumb up to his mouth and bit it hard enough to make blood sprout from the skin there. The impostor began to do hand signs as he continued. "They're not the skills that I was wanting to see." He pressed his thumb against his palm, and then he held the hand down, the palm open to the ground. "Summoning jutsu!"

There was a poof of smoke, surrounding the impostor's lower half. An outline appeared, the shape thick and curvy. Something extended out of the smoke. It was the thing's lower half, most of the top half still concealed within the smoke. But the lower half was more than enough to revel its identity.

The snake's yellow slit eyes peered at me as the smoke began to clear, its pink tongue darting out from between its lips. Its scales were dark purple, contrasting with the brightness of its eyes. The thing was a little more thick than I was tall and about ten feet in length.

"Let's see if fear can do the job the," the impostor said. He was about to speak again, but then he paused, his gaze returning to Chouji. "First of all, eat that fat kid so I can make sure rage isn't enough to trigger it."

Before I even had a chance to protest, the snake reacted. It sped toward the unconscious form of my friend, its jaw wide open as its tongue shot out. It wrapped around Chouji's body, bringing the Akimichi up into its mouth.

I froze, shocked by what had just happened. "Chouji," I whispered. I stared at the snake, my eyes locked on the bulge in its throat where Chouji was, then proceeding by journeying further down into its stomach, his form no longer visible. The surprise from it kept me from reacting for a long time. I could feel the pain, though, along with the dark flame that was rage, slowly but surely unthawing my body.

Impostor Itachi sighed after a minute or so. "Looks like I'll just have to risk it, then." he glanced at the snake. "Eat her as well. If that doesn't trigger it, then I guess I was wrong."

The snake, eager to eat once again, lunged. Both my body being frozen from the shock of Chouji being eaten and the snake's speed made it so me being swallowed was inevitable. I screamed, just what was going on slamming into me. I was about to be eaten by a snake!

Its mouth closed around me, making my scream no longer as audible, if even audible, to the outside world.

If you've never been inside a snake, I suggest that you don't try it. It was a huge tunnel of bulging pink muscles trying to crush me, liquid dripping from it. Panic bloomed within me, growing in intensity with each passing second. My hands acted on their own as I squirmed, my fists banging uselessly against the soft muscles of the snake. I was going to die! And the cause was going to be stomach acid. How many people died by being eaten by a giant snake?

I didn't want to die. I was only eight years old. I hadn't even really lived my life. I wouldn't be able to be with Naruto and Sasuke any longer. I felt tears spring to my eyes. I don't want to die, I thought. I don't want to-

My thoughts stopped when one of my flying fists hit something solid among the multiple muscles. My body froze with fear, my mind creating a variety of not-so-good possibilities. I wiggled between the pink globs so I could get a better view. My eyes widened when I saw what I'd hit.

Chouji, still unconscious, lay there. He breathed softly, looking so peaceful that he didn't look like he belonged in this fear-inducing situation. He had pools of the liquid on his skin, steam rising from it. The Akimichi's throat was red from the impostor pressing his forearm there. Other than that, though, he seemed unharmed.

Yet he was about to die.

I stared at him, a new horror beginning to creep over me. We were both in the snake. Like me, Chouji was going to die. And it was all my fault. He was at death's door because of me.

This Itachi impostor had a strange fascination with me. He apparently believed I had some power that I didn't have. I had invited Chouji here to train. He wouldn't have been here if it wasn't for me. If it wasn't for me, he would be off somewhere else, either with his family or Shikamaru, not in a snake's stomach.

If it wasn't for me being so powerless, I could save him. But I couldn't. Just as I couldn't save my family. My weakness was going to be the death of Chouji. I couldn't protect him. I couldn't save him.

_So you're just going to give up?_

It was that annoying voice from a week ago. The same voice that had pushed me to find out answers. Despite the fact that it was annoying, it was right. I was just giving up. I wasn't even trying to save Chouji. I was just panicking. I was letting him die by giving up. That was more unforgivable than being the reason of his death.

I grasped Chouji's wrist and pulled him toward me. If there was only a small time for an escape, I was at least going to make sure that he got out, and I couldn't do that if he was a few feet away. I closed my eyes, searching my mind for a jutsu that might just get us out of the snake.

Deciding to go with one of the few elemental ninjutsu I knew, I began to weave some hand signs. "Fire style! Fireball jutsu!" I breathed out fire, which ate at the muscles within the snake. It continued like this, and even from within the snake, I could feel it thrashing. But it didn't work. I continued and continued, pushing myself even when I was so close to empty I should have stopped. It hadn't pierced the snake's skin, not even leaving a burn mark.

No. No, no, no, no! It couldn't have failed. What had I done wrong? What had Chouji ever done wrong! What had either of us done to deserve this fate? I began to grow tired as I continued in my state of panic, the overuse of chakra most likely the cause.

Darkness pressed down on me, and I was so willingly to leap right into that welcoming darkness's arms that I almost did. But not before I looked at Chouji's face one more time. Sweet, innocent Chouji. Chouji, so gentle that he wouldn't hurt a thing unless needed to. Chouji, who had a heart so great that it should have taken twice the size of his body to hold it. Chouji, who people were sure to miss. Chouji, my new friend. And here I was, completely failing him. Would people miss him, I wondered as the darkness began to envelope me. Would they grieve over him like I did my own lost ones? His parents seemed to care about him and Shikamaru and him were like brothers. The world would lose one of its kindest souls because he was about to die in a snake's stomach.

_My mission of life?_

The memory was sudden and unexpected. It had happened only two days ago, but I still couldn't believe I'd remember it now out of all times.

_Yes, Sasaui. That's what I asked. What's your mission of life?_ Yukio-sensei had asked. He was the sub for Iruka-sensei, and since he had no lesson plans, he'd just gone at random with things to do. And he'd begun by asking me that very question.

_What do you mean by that?_

Yukio-sensei had smiled kindly. He was about thirty, and it had been the kind of smile adults gave kids when they asked a silly question. How was I supposed to know what he meant? _It's the mission that you put for yourself._

_So a goal?_ I had summarized, wondering why he couldn't just say that.

He nodded. _That's exactly it, Sasaui. The mission of life is the mission that nobody can give you but yourself. It's a mission assigned to you by your heart._

That had sounded like something cheesy he'd just made up, but I had taken the question seriously, trying to figure out what it was. _I guess I'd have to say it would be to protect those that I care about. I've already lost everyone I care about once. I don't want it to happen again._ I'd suddenly really gotten into it, feeling as if this was a very serious matter. _I'll protect them no matter what the cost. I'll make sure their loved ones don't have to go through the pain I did. That's my mission of life, Yukio-sensei._

And all he'd said to that was, _Very good,_ before going on to the next person.

No! I couldn't allow Chouji to die. I would save him. I was going to because I had to. And I would die before I just gave up on even trying to complete my mission of life. The mission I'd created for myself for the rest of my life. I would follow it, because that was what my heart told me to do. Nobody deserved the pain of death, or the pain of knowing someone who died.

My fists curled into fists, this determination to save Chouji bringing forth a sudden wave of power. I continued to grow, building within me. I reached toward Chouji, bringing him to me for a reason unknown to me. It just felt….. well, right. The energy continued to grow, becoming so great it became visible around me, swirling in a way that made it seem like a tornado. It was a bright green color that expanded, continuing to grow bigger and bigger. It pressed against the snake's body, forcing it to expand until it finally couldn't take anymore and exploded outward. It was glad I had hold of Chouji because he would have flown away if I hadn't. As it was, he lightly hit the ground, my hand still grasping his wrist. We were in the middle of the snake's body, which was already disappearing as smoke. It surrounded us, making what was around us invisible. Not that Chouji was awake to see anyway. I lightly lay him down beside me before straightening, wondering what I'd see when the smoke cleared.

Before the smoke completely cleared, the impostor spoke. "Congratulations, young Uchiha. It seems you've passed the second test."

The smoke cleared, letting me see that the impostor was more or less at the same place as before, a look of victory in his dark eyes. He had a satisfied smile twisted upon his face. It looked right, though, completely matching the twisted darkness in his eyes.

I glared at him, which made let out a small chuckle. When I got into a fighting stance, he let out a bemused laugh. "You can't be serious, child. Do you truly believe you can fight me just because of the green chakra swirling around you?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't believe that at all. I don't even understand what's going on right now," I replied. "I do, however, know that I have to protect Chouji at all costs. And if that means fighting you, I will."

The impostor sighed, shaking his head. "You children, always thinking you can play hero. Or, in your case, heroine." He glanced up at me, as if already knowing what I was going to do.

I sped at him, moving faster than I ever had before. Everything blurred, and within seconds I was at him. I jumped up when I was about a yard away from him, bringing my leg back. He had a comfortable smirk on his face, blocking my chakra-powered kick with his forearm. Instead of giving me time to fall back to the ground, his hand shot out, the palm facing me. It slammed into me with more strength than I expected, sending me rocketing back.

Waiting only long enough to get my balance back, I raced toward the impostor again. Once again I jumped up, the impostor having the height advantage. I punched first with my left hand, but then he leaned just enough that I missed, leading to me punching with my right hand instead. This time he leaned back to stay out of my range. That was when I fell to the earth again, gravity refusing to let me stay up any longer. I jumped up again, doing a front flip when I was higher than the man. As I flipped, I stuck my foot out so that my heel would strike the man painfully hard if it succeeded. Sadly, it didn't.

The impostor grabbed my ankle and yanked me down, leading me slightly over so I wouldn't still hit him. He released my ankle once his other hand was grasping my face. He slammed me against the earth, sending pain throughout my body.

"It seems as if all that chakra is protecting you. Anyone else who was your age would have had their spine broken from the impact."

I ignored what I guessed was his compliment, and grabbed his wrist, trying to pry his hand off my face. When that didn't seem to work, I brought my legs up. They dug into his side, shoving against him. He did fly up, and for a moment it seemed as if I was going to go with him, but I didn't. Instead I bit down suddenly on the bit of flesh I could get into my mouth. The impostor let got out of surprise, dropping since I'd risen a few feet with him.

The impostor landed in a crouch a few feet away from me, his eyes narrowed as he examined me. "Very good. If you actually had someone around to train you, you could become quite strong. Too bad I'm not willing to use force yet. I would rather give you free will when it comes to this decisions."

Completely confused, I stared blankly at him. When that didn't compel him to answer, I asked, "What do you mean?"

The disguised male simply smiled. "You'll learn one day, Sasaui," he said, straightening out of his crouch. "Until then, though, I think I'd like to learn the full extent of your power." His eyes flickered toward his new target a second before I realized what he was about to do.

"No!" I screamed as he ran toward Chouji. Fear and rage fought against each other to decide which was stronger. I was terrified that the impostor would kill Chouji, and at the same time I was angry at both him and myself. Myself for being too weak to protect Chouji, and at the impostor for causing this entire mess. "No, leave him alone!" Tears sprang to my eyes, watching as the figure of the impostor neared Chouji. I don't know what emotion won. I just knew there was an emotion there, so great that it overwhelmed me to the point where I couldn't even think. Which is why what I did next I didn't think about doing, but simply did.

My hands began to move by themselves, doing hand signs in a sequence I didn't recognize at all. When they stopped, they were open and facing the man, my palms facing away from me.

"Lava style!" The voice I heard didn't belong to me. It was female, but it sounded like it belonged to someone around their late teens or early twenties. "Lava death trap jutsu!"

The man skidded to a stop as a glowing red wall formed in front of him, spreading out to form a ball around him. I could still see him, looking at me with a look of bewilderment that soon turned to one of understanding. And then he looked afraid, but the fear wasn't too great. It was like when someone suddenly realized something and thought, "Oh crap!"

My hands, still moving by themselves, came together, the fingers wrapping around the other hand to form the snake symbol. The red wall, which I was guessing was lava, came together, forming a type of armor on the impostor.

Only it wasn't protecting him. It was hurting him, burning him just as lava was supposed to. The impostor let out a scream that made me instantly want to stop, except for one problem - I didn't even know what was going on. The jutsu didn't stop until after the green chakra that had been swirling around me disappeared, the sudden wave of exhaustion driving me to my knees. So about twenty seconds, but that was still a long time when you considered what the impostor had to be going through.

I'd expected the impostor to drop to the ground, dead and burned so badly I couldn't even recognize his form when he was no longer in using the transformation jutsu, but that's not what I saw. Instead the male, still wearing a Itachi disguise, dropped to the ground, landing on one knee. Steam was raising off of him, showing that he'd obviously been on fire. And he was laughing.

"It looks like Hikari didn't dare let you go out into the world without your Inheritance, despite the rules. She couldn't bring herself to do it," the impostor said, doing nothing more than confuse me.

Without even looking at me, the impostor must have known he'd confused me because he said, "You'll learn one day." He slowly got to his feet, still refusing to look at me. He slowly backed up, the shadows nearly completely swallowing him. There was one last thing I saw before he allowed himself to be swallowed by the darkness.

"Grow stronger." It was then that he looked at me, his hand hiding part of his face. But his fingers were spread apart so that I could see one of his eyes. It was no longer Itachi's black eyes, showing that the transformation jutsu was fading. Instead it was an olive color, that same twisted darkness as before still there. "It shall be interesting to watch you grow, young Guardian."

There that word was again. The same thing that Kyuubi had called me when he'd taken over Naruto's body. What did it mean? Why did both he and a fox demon call me a Guardian? I stared after him, trying to decode all the things that the impostor had said.

I don't know how long I had been there on my knees before I heard someone call, "Sasaui!"

My mind still not completely with me, I didn't react for a couple seconds. By then the person was at me, their hand on my shoulder. As if to prove just how far my brain had been, I hadn't even recognized that it was Sasuke until I glanced back at him.

"Sasuke?"

My twin brother stared at me, a worried look in his eyes. "What have you been doing? You do realize that it's nine o'clock at night, right? You were supposed to be home an hour ago," he said. "And you have Chouji's mom worried sick searching for-" He paused, lifting his hand and looking at it. Then he saw Chouji's unconscious body on the ground a little ways away. "A couple of questions. One, what are you covered in. Two, why is Chouji unconscious?"

I searched my brain, not sure how to even begin to describe what had just happened to Sasuke. Anyway, how could I tell him? It had been Itachi that guy had been posing as. Even if I continued to tell Sasuke a hundred times it had been an impostor, he'd see it as something Itachi had just done to fool me and that hatred might just grow stronger. Instead of telling the truth for that very reason, I lied by saying, "I accidentally hit him in the nose so hard I knocked him out." It was the same thing I'd been planning on telling Chouji, afraid of the fear and trauma knowing the true events of what had happened may cause. "As for the what I'm covered in, I guess there was some dew on the grass or something."

It was a good excuse that would have worked on anyone else, but Sasuke looked skeptical. Seeing no reason I'd have to lie, though, he let it go. "Well, we better get you back. You look exhausted and I think Mrs. Akimichi's about to have a panic attack."

I felt a grin spread across my face. I couldn't tell if it was forced or not. My guess was that it was, but I didn't spend too much time worrying about it. Instead I got to my feet and walked over to Chouji. I stumbled a bit, but I finally got to him. I got down onto one knee to shake him, feeling a huge smile spread across his face when his lids moved back to reveal his black eyes.

"Ah, hey, Sasaui." He slowly sat up, giving me a weird look about the grin. Then he suddenly rubbed his head. "Oh man, what happened."

"I-I hit yo-you in the nose." Chouji got shakily to his feet, reaching down his hand to help me up as well. But I didn't take the offered hand. Instead I did something that I didn't expect. Apparently after fearing for his life so much, I hadn't realized just how happy I was he was alive. Which is exactly why I somewhat jumped with my knees, throwing my arms around him and tackling him to the ground in a hug. Tears that neither boy would understand flowed from my eyes. A confused Chouji simply patted my back, looking toward Sasuke for answers. When he shrugged, Chouji began to say, "It's all right Sasaui. Whatever's wrong, it's alright."

Yes, it was alright. He was alive. I'd kept him alive. Somehow I'd managed to complete my mission of life today. I didn't know where that strange power had come from, nor did I understand the weird jutsu thing, but I did understand two things. One, I'd protected Chouji. The second and most important thing, though, was that Chouji was alive.

****

Kataki didn't know when he'd fallen asleep. He just knew that he had because he found himself lying on the ground, his hand wrapped around the necklace that held the ability to summon a sword unique to the Gisei clan. And the reason his hand was there was the same reason that he'd woken up.

Something had made the bush at the edge of the forest rustle.

The white haired boy shot to his feet, adding chakra to his hands as he prepared to summon the Gisei blade.

"No need to attack, child." A teen stepped out of the forest, his olive eyes staring directly at him. He had black hair that contrasted with his pale skin. He wore an Anbu outfit, their mark tattooed onto his arm. His forehead was protected by a headband with the leaf's swirling symbol on it. One half of his body seemed paler than the other side, making him look strange.

"Who are you?" Kataki demanded, taking a small step back. He wasn't sure how strong this man was, but if this guy was Anbu, that meant there was bound to be more of them soon. Had they been sent to find out what had happened? Well, if so, they were too late. His village and family was already gone. They were already dead.

The teen smiled. There was something strange about those eyes of his. They seemed wrong. Was he truly around thirteen, because his eyes seemed to beg to differ. "I'm a friend, child. I know who did this to your village."

Kataki was surprised enough by this that he didn't bolt then like he'd intended to. Instead he paused, his eyes on the teen. "How do you know who they are?"

"Because I want to help you get your revenge."


	9. Episode 9: Keep Holding On

"This is such a drag," Shikamaru grumbled beside me, resting his cheek against the palm of his hand. In the four years I'd known him, the Nara's lazy, relaxed attitude hadn't wavered in the least. If anything, he was even lazier and more relaxed than then. "We're going to end up getting punished because of Naruto again." He had the same black hair and the same spiky ponytail. He wore a dark sleeveless mesh shirt under a light grey opened jacket, green lining on both his mesh shirt and jacket. The jacket stopped about an inch or two from the beginning of his pants, then angling forward as it got closer to the opening of the jacket. On his sleeves and back was a circle with a line through it, the Nara clan's symbol. The pants he wore were dark brown, close to being black instead of brown.

"Come on, Shika-san. Have more faith in Naruto's evasive skills," I said. My hair had grown longer, reaching the end of my shoulder blades, a couple of my bangs reaching right above my eyes. I wore a dark blue-grey short sleeve shirt with an Uchiha crest on the right sleeve, a blue vest with a raised collar that circled my neck, black shorts, and blue ninja shoes.

"Yeah, Shika-san," Chouji added in a teasing tone. "Trust Naruto to evade Iruka." He grinned when Shikamaru glared at him, the nickname I'd given him annoying him to no end. Chouji stuck a few chips in his mouth before continuing. "Sasaui's right, though, Shikamaru. After all, he has avoided Iruka-sensei the last three times." Chouji's hair was slightly different, but it was still spiky as before. He'd gotten slightly chubbier since I first met him as well, his puffy cheeks marked with the pink swirls just as then. He wore a white scarf around his neck, hanging down to his knee, a beige shirt with the kanji for food under a short sleeve green jacket, black shorts, and blue ninja shoes. Both his arms and legs were covered in wrappings, the wrappings excluding his fingers. The only other addition to his appearance were hoop earrings that he wore in both ears.

"He's going to have more people than Iruka-sensei chasing him if he's truly going to do what he told Sasaui he was doing," Shikamaru pointed out. "It would anger more than just Iruka-sensei if Naruto drew on the Hokage Monuments' faces. I'm sure they'll be back within five minutes."

I shrugged. "If it happens it happens. There's nothing we can do about I that won't lead to us to getting into more trouble."

"So, Shikamaru," Chouji began after a moment of silence, "what did your dad have you do yesterday?"

Shikamaru groaned, proceeding by describing the deer-related task that his father had given him the previous day. Instead of paying attention, though, my focus found its way to someone else - Sasuke. He was sitting at the front, staring at the wall with a bored expression. He sat between a kid named Shino Aburame and one of his random fan girls whose name I had trouble remembering. It was strange that I would forget since her name when it was similar to the male sitting on the opposite side of Sasuke. The blond girl was named Ino Yamanaka.

He wasn't nearly the same as he had been before the massacre. He kept everyone out and helped keep them out by being cold. He was nice to my friends, but all he did was show them more respect and wasn't as cold to them as he was others. He acted the same as he did before toward me and Naruto. The reason I thought was the cause of this was that it was easy for Sasuke to keep people out.

I still hadn't told Sasuke about the impostor, nor the strange things that had happened that day. I still dreamt of it, though, confusing Sasuke when I woke up screaming with memories of being so close to death and sobbing from thinking that Chouji was dead. He tried to pry the information out of me, but it never worked. I still felt the same fear that the information would do would be fuel the hatred within him.

The door banged open as Iruka-sensei walked in, dragging an orange clad boy by a rope. Naruto, other than his orange outfit and the new goggles on his forehead, looked the same as when I first met him. His blue eyes were narrowed, complaints of being caught grumbled from between his lips.

"Hey, look at that," Chouji said. "Naruto was caught in three minutes. Looks like you were wrong, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru sighed, staring straight ahead with a bored expression. "I said within five minutes, not in five minutes," he corrected.

As if hearing his name, Naruto looked in our direction. When his eyes met my differently colored eyes, a huge grin replaced his previous frown. "I told you I would do it, Sasaui. You thought they'd catch me before I finished, by I did it."

I rolled my eyes as I fake applauded him. "Yes, very good, Naruto. You did the dirty work and then got caught. Bravo. Absolute perfection." When he just continued to grin, I finally returned it. His smiles/grins were just plain contagious sometimes.

"I hope you two are having fun, but this isn't the type of thing that you joke around about," Iruka-sensei said. And with that, the scarred ninja went into lecture mode. Like usual, I tuned out. After the first two lectures, I'd gotten bored of them. Then came exactly as the know-it-all known as Shikamaru had predicted - we were punished.

"That is it! Line up. You are going to do the transformation jutsu!"

Like Shikamaru had done, the other students grumbled and complained, some of them even muttering words about Naruto that made me think they spent too much time around drunk adults. They did as instructed, though, lining up in the front of the room. Sasuke was three people in front of me, Shikamaru and that Ino girl between us. Naruto was in front of them, a defiant look on his face when his turn came. He strode forward, stopping a short distance in front of Iruka.

He brought his hands together, focusing his chakra as he prepared to use the transformation jutsu. And he did transform, only it wasn't Iruka he turned into after he cried, "Transform!" The was a puff of smoke, hiding Naruto's figure. As it began cleared, I found myself doubling over laughing. Naruto stood there, but he wasn't Naruto. He- sorry, she, had long hair that was put up in two amazingly long ponytails, her blue eyes bright and innocent. She was naked, clouds covering parts that Naruto shouldn't have seen at his age. If I found out that he somehow had, though….. Well, let's just say he wouldn't be able to remember seeing them when I was through with him.

Iruka stared for a second, twitched, and then blood shot out of his nose. A typical guy response. No matter how I looked at it, I believed all guys had a perverted side to them. He hit the ground for a moment, but he instantly bounced back up, rage burning in his dark eyes. As he did, Naruto changed into himself again, a huge grin on his face. "How'd you like my Sexy jutsu, Iruka-sensei?"

"Don't invent worthless tricks!" Well, at least Naruto then knew what Iruka thought.

I chuckled as Naruto returned to his seat. The blond boy, despite being the target of Iruka's anger, was grinning as he took his seat between Hinata and a boy I thought was one of Taro's friends.

Unlike Sasuke, Naruto's personality seemed unchanged since I'd met him. He seemed like the same joker boy as then. The only real different was one I didn't like at all - the pain. It was nowhere near as bad as when I'd first met Naruto, but it was still there. He had Sasuke and me, and he knew that. All the hatred from the villagers, though, seemed to slowly start to bring back pain from before, making him feel as lonely as he would be without us. It disappeared when he was hanging out with us, but it seemed to return when he thought nobody was looking. Maybe it was just a subconscious thing that led him to thinking about the hatred when he wasn't with Sasuke or me.

"Sasaui," Iruka suddenly said, drawing me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, sorry," I apologized when I noticed it was my turn to perform the transformation jutsu. I walked up, bringing my hands up to perform the jutsu.

****

The flames burned, growing brighter and brighter. The smoke polluted the air, burning Katachi's lungs when he inhaled. That wasn't the only thing he smelled. He also smelled burnt flesh from where they had thrown his family into the fire. Screeches, both human and something that was almost nonhuman, filled the air, either in the form of battle cries or to express agony. And that was one thing that a lot of people around him were experiencing - agony.

Stop it! Kataki whispered, closing his eyes as he tried to ignore the cries of his clan. He couldn't stop to help them. He had to go find his brother. He was, after all, the next to be head of the clan. Because of that, his mom had ordered him to go find him and help him. It was his brother's life that mattered to her. Not his. After all, his mother was prepared for Kataki to die to avenge his father. His brother had to live to lead the clan. Kataki was tool while his brother was her son. He was the one who had been brave enough to Bond when he was only seven while Kataki still hadn't when he was already eight years old.

Kataki weaved through the war zone, searching for his brother. He had to be somewhere. Their village wasn't that big, yet Kataki hadn't seen him yet. A few times he was stopped by a battle, or tripped over a body. Often that led to him doing a face plant into a pool of blood. He'd also gotten some blood into his mouth. He didn't know if it was one of the dead on their side or one of his clan's dead. He didn't stop to find out, though.

Yuu! the young Gisei called. His heart thudded painfully hard against his chest while his throat was ready to burst. He began to slow down, his eyes scanning the area. It was the last part of their village. He couldn't be anywhere else.

And it was there that he found Yuu. He was on the ground, blood seeping out of him. About twelve of them stood over them, breathing heavily. How? How had these guys beat his brother? He was one of the strongest Gisei in history. Just how strong were the people they were against? For a moment, Kataki was in a complete and utter state of shock. A strange numbness settled over him. His head fell, his body trembling even if he didn't know why.

It was then that Kataki saw the gleam of stone. He glanced over to find that Yuu had apparently lost his sword. Otherwise the blade wouldn't have reverted back into its bloodstone form. The bloodstone was a small, pentagonal gem within a small golden metal frame, energy moving within it.

No, Kataki murmured, clenching the necklace. The numbness began to fade, pain overcoming it. Pain and anger. Dark, out of control rage. You killed him. You freaking killed him! He swirled around to face them, his anger burning like a forest fire. They were all looking at him, slowly but surely approaching him. Kataki focused his chakra to the bloodstone, the gem glowing as well as burning before its form began to shift. It elongated, coming to a sharp point. It remained red while the guard became black, curving at the end and coming to a point.

He brought his blade back, easily killing the first one he saw. They hadn't expected a child no older than eight to be so swift with a sword that he'd just recently picked up. The others, however, hesitated, not wanting to make the same mistake.

Wait, a female voice shouted right before the next one lunged.

Hikari, what on earth make you stop us? one of them demanded, annoyance clear in their voice. He was looking slightly to Kataki's left. He shifted his position so that he could keep his eyes on the people attacking him and the newcomer. Just another person to kill.

He's just a child. The woman looked pretty young, but her eyes seemed to be wiser and more experienced than anyone younger than thirty could have. She had short black hair, her green eyes bright and seemingly emerald. She wore a lose blue shirt with a clan symbol on her left side. It was a shield-like object with a cross within it.

He's one of the Gisei! the same man snapped. All Gisei must be killed. That's one of our duties.

The black haired girl, Hikari, flinched. Her gaze flickered between the rest of her clan and Kataki. Her eyes narrowed, resolve in them. Fine then, let me take care of him. You guys go get the others.

The same man examined Hikari's eyes, as if looking for something that Kataki was unaware of. Then he nodded. Come on guys. Hikari is right. We need to go deal with the others. And with that, the others left. Hikari turned to Kataki, a sad look in her eyes. I'm sorry, child. I'm truly sorry. Moving with speed only a well trained ninja could, she was right beside of him, her hand coming down to slam against his neck.

****

There was a dull knock, but Kataki ignored it, staring at the ceiling above him, the last memory he had before waking outside his burning village replaying in his mind. If they really were important, they'd have a key to his room. If not, they could wait until he was ready to come out. He knew why they were there. They were simply there to remind him of the mission he'd have in an hour or so. Another small group of those people whom he was hunting had been located.

After a few more attempts, the knocker gave up and left. It was then Kataki, being his usual self, got to his feet. He was only in sweat pants, having nothing else to use as night clothes. He ran a hand through his white hair. It had grown longer, but not outrageously long. He walked over to the small bedside table that held his clothes. He also had his necklace on top of it, the gem gleaming despite there being no light for it to reflect.

He pulled out his clothing, which consisted of a white sleeveless shirt with a raised collar, the area close to the sleeves black, the fact it was sleeveless showing his right elbow, which was hidden with wrappings, black gloves, blue pants that stopped short of his ankles on the right side and stopped slightly past his knee on the other. Like his right elbow, his left leg was hidden in wrappings, but not for the same reason. His leg was because of a bad wound. He strapped his necklace on, completing his outfit.

Kataki left his room, his footsteps echoing softly off the dark brown walls around him, illuminated only by candle light. He passed a few servants, who bowed the moment they saw him. After all, Kataki was his favorite pet. But he didn't even bother to acknowledge them. He didn't have the time. He needed to get the mission done. The more of themdead, the better.

Even though there was no team with him, he knew that there was one waiting for him outside in a nearby village, waiting for when Kataki would arrive. They would be getting food ready or buying other necessities. The moment he left the underground hideout, he was enveloped in forest, the smell of wet ground clear and strong in the air. The sounds of small animals were not nearly as clear as the smells, but Kataki could still hear it. The sun peeked through the patches where the tree's leaves weren't at, but most of the path never got hit by direct sunlight if there wasn't wind. There was, however, a small breeze, whistling through the air and only slightly stirring the leaves. But other than that, the only other clear sound was a river near by.

As well as the soft breathing of someone. There was a flash in Kataki's left hand as it began to rise. The flash began to solidify, becoming the very blade that he'd seen in his memories. Replacing the small animal sounds was the clang of metal and the slicing of air as the chakra around each weapon split it. A kunai pushed back against Kataki's sword, protecting the owner from dying by his blade.

"Took you long enough to notice me, Kataki. Usually you would have had that sword pointed at me the moment you stepped out of the base," the owner of the kunai said. The person was male, his slightly spiky blond hair pale and stopping right below his ear. His dull emerald eyes was similar to the very color he hated, but he hated the owner of the eyes more than the eyes themselves with this certain person. He wore a white vest over a short sleeve red-orange shirt, a black flame pattern at the bottom of the vest, white pants, and black ninja shoes.

"What are you doing here, Kintaro?" Kataki demanded, his displeasure clear in his voice. "Do you truly want me to kill you? If that's so, just ask. It'll be my pleasure."

Kintaro grinned. "Ah, I'm hurt, Kataki. I thought we were such great friends," the blond said, stepping out of Kataki's range and dropping his hand. He remained ready to bring it up again, though, knowing the other male well enough to know not to let his guard down. "Oh, that's right, you're a little loner boy. Ever since your family died, you don't make friends."

"I suggest you leave before I use you as a test dummy," Kataki growled, beginning to walk toward the nearby village. He was one hundred percent ready to go through with his threat, but he still dismissed the demon blade, returning it back to the bloodstone. If he needed, he could summon it back within seconds.

"Should you report to your savior that you're leaving?"

"He knows."

Kintaro smirked. "Yes, because he's a mighty god who knows everything, right? After all, he was smart enough to save your sorry butt," he said.

He swirled around, his hand in a position that if he summoned his blade, it would have pierced Kintaro's heart. The other male had his kunai raised, a smirk displayed on his face. "Do you just get a kick out of annoying me?"

"Basically."

Kataki sighed, weighing his options. Kill Kintaro now and have to explain why he'd done it, or just let him live and kill the other people who he despised. "You're the only person in the world annoying enough to make me want to create the Bond besides those stupid killers who took my family from me."

"Thanks for the compliment."

Resisting the urge to kill Kintaro then and there for about the millionth time since he first met him, he turned and walked away. Grumbling uncomplimentary words about his blond "friend", Kataki continued on his way.

"Hey, Kataki, catch!" Kintaro called. Following instinct, he swirled around, his hand flying out and snatching the beige object that he'd thrown to him. "I hear that you're going into the mountains. I thought you'd need your cloak."

The white haired Gisei glanced down at the cloak he now had in his hand. It was the very one he always left in his room. He glanced up to where Kintaro had been, but he was gone.

Kataki sighed. "Good riddance," he muttered, turning around and continuing toward the village, this time uninterrupted by the annoying blond.

****

The village was quiet and peaceful, everyone returning home now that the sky had grown dark. I was actually heading home as well, my hands locked behind my head. I'd been at an elderly woman's house, repairing a fence Naruto and I had accidentally broken. Unfortunately it was big hole and Naruto had his own mess to clean up, so I'd been on my own.

I sighed, my muscles complaining as they remembered the task they'd just completed. Darn it. Why'd I have to think of that? Nothing good could have come from it. I dropped my hands from behind my head and tried to get them into a better position. If simply putting together an old woman's fence made my body sore, how was I going to complete all the missions I was bound to be assigned as a genin?

This thought led me to thinking of the upcoming test. With the written part of it already completed the previous day, we were now at the ninjutsu part of the exams. I wondered what jutsu it would be we'd be made to do. The substitution? The clone? Or perhaps the transformation like before. No, that last one was too easy. Everyone would pass then. That, however, might have been a good thing, seeing as it would help out Naruto.

My gaze lifted to the Hokage monument, and once I saw it was spotless, I figured Naruto was done. More than once I'd looked up to see an orange dot in the distance, going through with his punishment of cleaning his mess. As I passed through the main streets, the area was slightly, though not by too much, more populated. About half, possible a third, of the people who were usually one the street occupied it now, the rest already home.

The rays of the moon lit my path, providing the only light as I neared the darker part of town. I paused by the river outside my house, walking up to it. I gazed out at it, the sound of the water relaxing me in a way only it could. I looked down at the dark water, my image reflected off of it. The reflection shimmered as the water moved, blurring it.

I screamed, scrambling back suddenly. My heart rammed against my ribcage, threatening to break free of its containments. I very slowly dragged myself toward the water, flinching when I saw my own green eye. Just before I'd seen a pair of red eyes staring up at me, but they hadn't been the same. One had been a Sharingan eye with three tomoe. The other, had been a hate-filled red eye with a slit for a pupil.

****

"So, you excited for the ninjutsu test?" I asked Naruto, trying to ignore the tension around me from the kids panicking about what said test would be. It was hard, though. Especially when the kid behind me seemed about ready to burst into hysteria. Yeah, I was nervous, too, but I didn't make people want to slap me. Okay, yeah, maybe my rage was only because I was cranky from staying up late , seeing that red eye pair, but hey, that still didn't give the kid an excuse.

Naruto beamed at me. "Sasaui, you're talking to the next Hokage. I'll pass this test. Believe it!"

If only everyone could have his enthusiasm. I smiled. "That's great. Hopefully everyone passes. It would suck if someone failed, huh?"

He shrugged. "As long as I pass, I'm just fine."

I rolled my eyes. "So what if….. Let's go with Hinata. If Hinata didn't pass, you wouldn't feel a hint of sadness simply because she failed?"

Naruto thought that over. "I guess I see your point. Although I'd be just fine if Tora failed."

Before I could reply, Iruka-sensei walked into the room, a clipboard in his hand. "Okay, class, how about we get this test started?" he suggested. "Anyway, to pass the test, you will have to complete the clone jutsu. When you're called, come into the other room."

I felt like someone had just punched me. The clone jutsu? THE CLONE JUTSU! My eyes locked onto Naruto. He had turned a sickly white color, his clenched fists trembling. By the look on his face, he was having the same thoughts as me. Crap. Oh freaking crap! You've gotta be kidding me!

"Okay. First up is Kohaku Zunori," Iruka called, walking back toward the door. Kohaku got up from his seat and followed him.

My gaze locked onto the door, my heart aching. No. No, this couldn't be happening. I was dreaming. Why else would the ninjutsu part of the test just happen to be Naruto's worst jutsu?

Naruto was freaking out about a dozen times more than me, crushing his head against the desk as if to force himself out of this dream. He glanced up, watching as Kohaku walked out, smiling as he showed his now covered headband off to his friends in the front.

Apparently going at random with names, Iruka next called, "Hinata Hyuuga." The shy girl got up from her seat by that Ino girl and another girl whose name I believed was Noki. Her gaze locked on the floor, Hinata walked to the door at Iruka's heels.

"Don't worry, Naruto, you'll be fine," I tried to assure him. That didn't seem to help. All his enthusiasm from before had vanished, replaced at a fear that seemed to be eating him away. To become a genin was the first step for him to achieve his dream. If he couldn't become the Hokage, what would he do? I mean, sure, that was my dream as well, but for him to lose his chance so early? I knew that Naruto and I had an equal chance at becoming Hokage. Naruto may not be the best of fighters now, but I for one believed he had potential. How else would he be able to contain the Kyuubi?

"Taro Namara."

Another attempt, and another success. Taro walked from the room, a huge, cocky smile on his face. He glanced at me, his eyes narrowing. He tapped his headband, as if to say he had become a ninja. More than once I'd said he wouldn't because of the way he saw everything. It would have been safer for him not to be, but if he was, then he was. I hated it, though, because I knew he had a greater chance of dying than others because he thought it was impossible for him to die.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

My eyes locked on Sasuke's back as he walked toward the door. I had no doubt he'd pass. I'd seen him do the clone jutsu dozens of time. I kept my eyes on that very door until he exited, a new, gleaming headband now around his forehead. I let out a breath I'd unknowingly been holding. Despite my confidence in what he could do, apparently part of me still doubted him.

"Sasaui Uchiha."

I sighed, getting to my feet. "Wish me luck," I mumbled, glancing at the freaking out Naruto. He glanced up at me, a very small smile on his face.

"Don't worry. You'll do it just fine," Naruto told me. His sad blue eyes dropped to his desk again, biting down on his lip as he tried to figure out a way to get out of the mess this had become.

Nodding, I walked down the steps and headed for the door. I felt something build up within me. Anxiety, I decided. I was nervous about what was to come. There was always that chance that I'd fail. No matter how much I tried to ignore the fact, that chance was there.

"Hello, Mizuki-sensei," I said as I walked into the room the test was being held at. Mizuki sat at a table, headbands resting on the very piece of wood mentioned. He simply nodded in ways of a greeting.

"Okay, Sasaui," Iruka said, taking a seat beside of Mizuki. "As I said in the classroom, you are to perform the clone jutsu. To pass you have to successfully create two clones. Understand?"

I didn't understand how I couldn't understand, but I didn't say that. Instead I simply nodded. "Okay." I brought my hands together and went through the correct sequence of hand signs. Coming to the last one, I said, "Clone jutsu!" There was a poof of smoke to either side of me. As the smoke vanished, two mirror images of me stood in the smoke's place.

Iruka nodded. "Good job, Sasaui. You pass." He picked up one of the headbands and held it up. I walked forward and took the headband from him. I looked down at it, and then at the other headbands on the table. There was thirty-one students in this class. So far there was still twenty-seven left. What was the chances that Naruto wouldn't be one of those people to get a headband? He just had to. It was impossible for him to pass all these years and suddenly hit this brick wall. Right?

I sighed, shoving my headband into my pouch. I just couldn't bring myself to wear it by Naruto. Not until I knew he'd passed at least. I walked out, and the instant nobody saw I was wearing a headband, the either snickered or whispered to each other. I rolled my eyes. Catching Sasuke's both frightened and bewildered gaze, I patted my pouch. Being the wonderful mind reading twin he is, he nodded.

"You didn't pass?" Naruto asked when I got to him, his eyes wide with both dismay and slight fear.

"Nah. I just didn't feel like wearing it and put it in my pouch," I said, patting it to show him just like I had with Sasuke. He exhaled in relief.

"That's good." He looked up at me and grinned. "I was a little scared that you'd failed."

I simply gave him a small, forced smile before sitting down beside of him.

"Shikamaru Nara," Iruka called, walking toward the room. With a sigh, the lazy child got up and walked toward the same room.

Once again silence filled the space between Naruto and me as we waited for his name to be called. Finally, after a boy named Shitake Karazuma went up, Iruka said, "Naruto Uzumaki."

For a moment, Naruto was frozen, staring at Iruka-sensei like he was looking at someone completely knew to him. Maybe it was because of the fact that if Iruka said two simple words, he knew it would change his whole life. All he had to say was "You fail," and Naruto's word would change, completely veering off the track he'd had planned.

Realizing that he was still sitting there when Iruka was already heading into the room, Naruto stiffly got to his feet. The blond boy made his way down the steps and more or less traced Iruka's footsteps into the room.

I stared at the door, trying to will either the wall to be see-through or for my eyes to gain the ability to see through doors. Neither of those happened, though. The walls remained as solid and seeable as moments before. That didn't stop me from gazing at it, trying to imagine what the wall and door was hiding.

My fists curled into fists, grasping my pants material as Naruto walked out. His hands were stuffed into his pockets, his blond locks falling in front of his face. He walked up the steps, stopping by me. Naruto sat down, his head still down. And that was all it took for me to understand. Sure, I'd understood before, but part of me had been holding on to a stupid hope he was just toying with me.

"Naruto," I murmured.

Said boy looked up to look at me. His blue eyes met my own, and even though they were the same color as always, they were complete opposites what they'd been a day ago. That spark of joy and happiness was all but gone, replaced by both disappointment and pain. His lips were curled back slightly in a small frown, taking the place of his almost always present smile. "I'm fine, Sasaui," he lied.

I scoffed. "Naruto, don't even try to lie to me that badly," I scolded. "Seriously, you actually tried that?" Naruto attempted to force a grin onto his face, but he failed miserably. "Naruto-"

"I'll be waiting outside," he said, continuing up the steps. I was tempted to follow him, but unlike him, I hated breaking the rules. Conflicted between friendship and following the rules, I finally sighed and slouched in my seat.

****

My eyes scanned the Academy's playground, trying to find a blond and orange figure. I pursed my lips, pushing past the kids that cluttered the playground. "Naruto!" I called, my voice drowned out in the voice's of the other kids. I crossed my arms, searching for a hole in the wall of new genin. Getting tired of waiting, I took a few steps back. I ran forward, jumping up and grasping a tree branch. I pulled myself up onto said branch, waiting until I balanced myself to look for Naruto again.

His blond hair finally entered my view. I sighed in relief, preparing to jump down to him but stopping when I saw there was someone already with him. Naruto's head was against the rope of the swing, flickering up to two woman who were staring at him before find themselves on the ground again. Before I could see anything else, someone suddenly called, "Sasaui!"

I let out a surprised shriek, losing my balance on the branch. I fell, almost hitting the ground. Before I could, Sasuke caught me. He sighed, helping me get back onto my feet. "Sasuke, you idiot! You scared me." I glared up at him, noticing not for the first time that fate seemed to hate me. No matter how much time passed, Sasuke remained taller than me. Even Naruto was taller by about half an inch. And that was without counting his hair.

"Well, it's not my fault you decided to play monkey at the same time I came looking for you." He smirked when I tried to punch him in the arm, stepping out of my reach. "Anyway, I was wondering if you'd seen Naruto."

I nodded. "That's why I was in the tree. I was looking for him," I replied. "I was just about to go get him when some idiot scared me."

"Hn." He smirked when I glared. He knew that particular response drove me crazy.

"Cool kid wannabe," I grumbled, turning away from him and walking toward the swing Naruto had been at. I shoved some kids out of the way, said kids muttering words that earned them looks from the adults. I finally got through the wall of people, though, allowing me to get a clear view of what I considered Naruto's swing.

Only now it was empty, swinging slightly from left over momentum.

****

"Idiot," Mizuki muttered as the Kyuubi child walked away. He was still seated on the porch that extended out over the village, the boy he spoke of walking on the streets. Naruto was eager, becoming a pawn in his plan so easily it was laughable.

He sat there, his eyes on the blond ninja, feeling the village slightly cool as the sun began its descent. Mizuki finally hopped off, landing in the middle of the street. His fake nice-guy personality slipped back into place as he apologized to an elderly man he'd almost hit. Once the man was done lecturing him, Mizuki continued his journey to his apartment. After all, he did need to get prepared for the upcoming event. And the fools would never guess that he was the puppeteer, pulling all the strings. Nobody would suspect him before it was too late. Naruto would be dead and Mizuki would be long gone with the scroll.

His apartment was in one of the least populated part of town, so he wasn't surprised when he arrived on his street and nobody was around. What did surprise him, though, was the groan he heard from an alley a little ways in front of him. Knowing that the right thing for a chunin to do was to check it out and that Mizuki had to make sure to play his role, he went to investigate. He didn't expect what he saw to be in the Leaf.

There was a young woman there, tears streaming from her closed eyes. One of her arms was detached from her body, as well as one of her legs. It had obviously been done with a blade. Nobody could tear a limb off and have such a precise wound. It would have some details that showed it had been taken off with difficulty. Her end of her brown hair was covered with the blood pouring from her left shoulder, the arm that had been there gone from the point in connected with the shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open for a second, revealing amber eyes underneath. Mizuki knew her. She lived in the same apartment as he did. Umiko, he believed.

There was a flash of white, then blood gushed from the beginning of her remaining arm. Umiko's mouth opened in a scream, but Mizuki didn't hear a thing. Her arm, sharing the same detached fate as its companion, fell to the ground, blood still pouring from the new wound.

"Jutsus are so useful. The particular one I just used is especially helpful when you don't want people to hear your victim's screams," a voice said from behind Mizuki. He tensed. He could feel a body leaning against his own. The head was at his shoulder blades. "I prefer to hear their screams, but hey, a person has to make exceptions every once in a while."

"Why'd you attack her?" Mizuki didn't give the new person a moment to reply. He bent down, spinning on one of his legs while extending the other. The only problem was that the male was no longer there.

"It's simple, really." Mizuki flinched. Once again the voice was behind him. "I needed someone to use to demonstrate to you what I'd do to you if you didn't listen to me." He glanced back, seeing someone with blond hair that stopped at the end of his neck. His back was to Mizuki, so he couldn't see anything else. His entire lower half was covered by a black cloak. "Speaking of which, I suggest you do just that."

"Shut up, kid," Mizuki said, taking out a kunai and slashing at the boy's leg. He danced back. The white haired man chased him, trying to punch him in the chest. He jumped up, flipping over Mizuki. The moment the boy apparently regained his balance, he landed a chakra-powered kick. Mizuki flew forward, skidding to a stop right in front of Umiko. He looked at the gruesome sight, the better view of her wounds raising bile in his throat.

"For a chunin, you're pretty slow. You know that, right?" the boy said. "And next time, let me finish." As he spoke, he suddenly appeared beside of Mizuki, placing his hand on the back of his head and forcing it down onto the concrete. Almost instantaneously a headache formed. He could taste blood, both his own and the blood the stained the concrete his head was being forced upon.

"What do you want?" Mizuki asked, running different strategies through his head. He could always just use ninjutsu. He'd underestimated the kid before and hadn't done any, but now he wanted to kill the brat. The boy suddenly laughed.

"Go ahead, try to escape. I'd love to see you try. I would truly enjoy cutting each and every limp off your body." The boy seemed to be driven by a darkness, completely consuming him. How else could someone seem to demonic without being an actual demon? Unless the boy was. It would explain his amazing speed. "You're not the only pawn I can use, Mizuki."

The thought of the boy being a demon was seeming more and more likely.

"If you don't want to end up like the girl right in front of you, I highly suggest you listen. You know Sasaui Uchiha, right?"

An image of the girl mentioned flashed through Mizuki's mind. She was one of the last remaining Uchiha and friends with the Kyuubi brat. He didn't particularly like her. She was always too pure, and it annoyed him. More than once he'd had to read one of her annoying essays about working together and doing everything you could to protect your teammates and the ones you cared about. All one needed to protect was their own pride and continue to grow stronger to make that pride greater.

Even though Mizuki never replied, the boy went on, apparently already knowing the answer. "Well, I'd like you to do me a favor that involves her. I want you to capture and bring her to me when you run away with your precious scroll, got it?"

At the mention of his plans, the chunin's eyes widened. How could this random kid know about his goal of stealing the scroll Naruto would retrieve? He'd never even thought of breathing a word about it, didn't even give away the slightly hint. It was official. The boy had to be a demon.

"If you don't, well." Even though Mizuki hadn't seen the boy's face, he could imagine the twisted smile on his face as there was a flash of silver, the kunai that was apparently in his hand easily slicing off Umiko's remaining leg. The girl was so close to being dead she didn't seem to notice, barely any blood coming from the wound. Just how long had she had to suffer before Mizuki had gotten there? "So, you got it?"

Not wanting to get any more blood in his mouth, Mizuki remained silent. He would nod, but the boy was pushing down so hard it was impossible. Another impossibility was him pushing down harder, but he did when the elder male didn't reply.

"Got. It?" he repeated, clearly annoyed at having to do so.

"Yes!" He didn't even notice the blood. All his focus was on the fact he felt like his skull was about to shatter.

The pressure instantly lightened. "Good." The boy stepped away, Mizuki sighing with relief when the rest of the force disappeared. He got up from the pool of blood, turning to get his first good look at the boy. He was only thirteen at most, his emerald eyes blazing with a type of dark flame. His cloak had sleeves on it, covering his entire body. "Now, make sure you don't disappoint me." He flicked his wrist, the kunai he'd been holding flying forward. It came so close to Mizuki's face it nicked his nose. But that wasn't its target. Its target was the now dead Umiko's throat.

When Mizuki looked back to where the boy had been, he was no longer there. In his place he left a deep chill within Mizuki. Sasaui Uchiha. He had to capture and hand over Sasaui Uchiha or his fate would mirror Umiko's. And no matter how many times he tried to assure himself, that dark fire in the boy's eyes led Mizuki to thinking his death would be a lot slower and more painful.

****

"He'll be fine, Sasaui," Sasuke said for the millionth time as I paced in our bedroom. He wasn't even really looking at me. Instead he was staring at the ceiling, gripping his knew headband in his hand. He'd never show or admit it, but some small part of him, the small remnant of his childish self, was rejoicing at the fact he'd finally succeeded. He was now a genin. The first step to the goal he continually told me he didn't have.

"How do you know, Sasuke? You was just suddenly gone. What if someone kidnapped him?" I even knew what I said was stupid and paranoid, but I was panicking. Naruto was already devastated from not passing. What if something else bad happened?

My twin sighed, rolling onto his side. "Just go to sleep, Sasaui. I know you're tired." When he didn't hear movement, he continued. "The dobe will be fine. No matter what he does, he always is. He's like a Frisbee. He'll always come back, no matter how much some people don't want him to."

I rolled my eyes at my brother's comment. He'd never admit Naruto was his best friend no matter how hard I tried to get him to. Sasuke acted as if the world would end if he and Naruto were friends.

Apparently sensing that I'd finally given up on my panicking, he said, "Turn the light off," and then nothing more. Not even when I awoke from sleep about an hour later, my body shivering. I bit back my scream, glancing at where Sasuke lay, peaceful in whatever dream he was having. I had no such luck, though, instead being plagued by nightmares.

Air, I thought. I got to my feet, rubbing my eyes as I walked out of the room. I shut the door noiselessly behind me and then headed for the balcony. I pushed open the glass sliding door, taking in a lung full of fresh, cold air. My body responded instantaneously. My sweating body began to cool, the rushing heart within my ribcage slowing gradually.

"Naruto," I murmured, staring at the street. I jumped over the railing, landing in a crouch. Without missing a beat, I began to walk, furthering my calming process. I would pace in the house, but their were always the occasional creak that always seemed to wake up Sasuke. I didn't want to go through another yelling session where my brother tried to pry the information from me.

As the fear began to seep from my body, I recalled the dream, planning on figuring it out rather than risk having it again when I went to sleep later. That tended to help me.

This was a new nightmare, something rare recently. I'd seen Naruto walking along a path, me following behind him without pause. He came to a halt, which allowed me to get closer. Naruto looked around, almost like he was confused or lost. As if just now noticing me, he turned to face me, shock in his eyes.

"Sasaui?"

I smiled at him, jogging to get to him. But there was something strange. No matter how fast or hard I ran, I couldn't get closer. If anything, Naruto was getting farther with each passing minute. Naruto kept that confused look on his face for about another few minutes before his face suddenly contorted into one of pain. He let out a scream, grabbing his head as he fell to his knees. "Sasaui! Sasaui!" His eyes raised to mine, tears streaming from it.

"I'm trying!" I told him, my heart race building to the speed of a hummingbird's wings.

Naruto let out another scream, throwing his head back. A tremor ran through his body, and when it finally ended, he crumpled to the ground. I stopped, watching Naruto expectantly.

"Naruto?" I took a step toward him, this time actually making progress. I took a few more steps. "Naruto, are you okay?"

Instead of answering, the blond boy suddenly began to laugh. This time when his body shook, it was his own laughter causing it. "Precious little Guardian, aren't you?" He got to his hands and knees, still laughing. It wasn't his usual laugh. It was darker and twisted. "One of a kind. Not like any other. After all, you are stronger. Haven't killed me yet, have you?" Naruto slowly got up, his head still down. He took a step toward me, making it look like he was in a half crouched position.

"What do you mean?"

Another dark laugh, another step forward. "Don't know a thing, do you?" Yet another laugh, another step.

"What do you mean? Listen to me!"

This time instead of stepping, Naruto leaped forward, landing in front of me. Because of his slight height, he was able to look down at me, which is why I got a clear view of his now red eyes. "How long will that last, though? You have resistance, yes, but everyone has a breaking point. What will you do when I get control?"

Naruto - no, Kyuubi, suddenly reached forward, placing something in my hand. "After all, the last one couldn't resist." I glanced down to see a kunai there, the point toward Naruto. I screamed when he grasped my wrist and jerked it forward. "You may not know it, but it's your greatest fear." I pulled back, but Kyuubi pulled harder.

"No, please," I sobbed. "Please, just stop it."

Moving faster than my eyes could follow, Kyuubi reached up to grasp my elbow instead. And right before his final jerk forward, Kyuubi's eyes reverted to their normal blue. Not Kyuubi's eyes. Naruto's eyes. Staring at me in horror as my arm pierced through his gut. As I became the one who ended his life.

I shook the memory of my dream away. I clenched my fists, my lips pursed. I couldn't think of it. I still had that same feelings where I felt that bloodlust. Where I'd think of killing Naruto. Once I'd had a dream of fighting Kyuubi Naruto, but not once had ever taken his life. Nor had I seen those eyes staring at me, feeling the same betrayal and pain I'd felt when he'd almost killed me.

I came to a stop, letting out a sigh. I knew I would never kill Naruto. That was just absurd. But no matter how convinced of that I was, the fear continued to haunt me. That murderous feeling would never stay completely gone, and I hated that. More than once I'd thought of how Itachi could possibly kill our entire clan without feeling a thing, and here I was, dreaming of killing Naruto. I didn't understand it. I doubted I ever would.

Feeling the chakra moments before I heard the footsteps, I jumped to the side, a blur passing by where I had been. There was the thud of someone landing, and then I got a semi-good look of the person who had attacked me. They wore a chunin outfit, two extremely large shuriken on their back, and a headband wrapped around their head like a bandana. The person flung a kunai at me, but I avoided it.

"Very good, Sasaui. I believe you'd get an A in class, but sadly, that's not the case."

I recognized the voice instantly, and it was then that Mizuki-sensei turned to face me. He smirked at me. "Sensei?" I questioned, confused. Senseis didn't attack students outside class for pop quizzes, did they?

"I'm sorry about this, Sasaui. I don't understand why you're needed, but seeing as you are, you're coming with me," Mizuki said.

I blinked, wondering what in the world was going on. "What do you mean by me being needed?" I questioned.

Instead of responding, Mizuki lunged forward. I tensed, my eyes following him. Something about the way his body was seemed so very familiar. It sent a chill down my spine even if I didn't understand it. When he was about half way to me, though, I realized why he seemed so familiar. This was because I saw a different image mentally. Instead of Mizuki, I saw Naruto while possessed by Kyuubi, closing in on me with a killing blow.

My body locked up, refusing to move. I didn't understand it, but I did understand that it meant I was unable to stop Mizuki before his fist came down into my face. I hit the ground, my head banging off the street. I groaned, darkness closing down on me. I rolled onto my back, the last thing I saw before blacking out being Mizuki reaching down to pick me up.

****

When I first woke up, the first thing I noticed was I was sitting on something damp. My back and neck was sore, but that wasn't the thing that popped out the most. I had something wrapped around me, restraining my upper body from moving. I struggled still, ending up falling sideways. It was then I got a mouth full of dirt.

I spat it out of my mouth, my face one of disgust. Damp dirt didn't taste very good. Not at all. Especially when there was grass mixed in along with what thought was a leaf.

"So you're finally awake," Mizuki said. He looked like he had been about to leave, looking over his shoulder at me. Part of his face was hidden by the huge shuriken on his back, but most of it was visible. He was smirking, a dark light in his eyes. "When you didn't wake up, I thought you'd just remain unconscious until after you were taken away."

"What do you mean?"

Once again, I wasn't answered. Instead Mizuki walked forward. As I focused, I heard noise in the distance. After a moment, I figured they were voices. I cocked my head to the side, trying to hear it better. Something about practicing. Wait, was that… Yes, I was sure of it. It was Naruto's voice. What was going on?

Knowing I'd never find out from here, I searched for something that would be sharp enough to help cut the rope around me. I finally found it in the form of a sharp rock sticking up from the ground a foot or two away. I crawled to it, maneuvering a little so that the rock was at the end of the rope on my back. Hoping I didn't mess up and end up stabbing myself with the rock, I began to move my body up and down, attempting to cut the rope with the rock. I heard some people yelling, motivating me to move faster.

I finally got through the first few levels of the rope, so I began to wiggle my arms around to loosen the rope. It took me going over the rock a few more times and a lot more wiggling, but I finally managed to get out of the rope. I threw the rope that was still in tact on the ground, turning in the direction Mizuki had gone and running.

"No, don't!" I heard a familiar voice - Iruka's? - shout. When I got closer, I verified it was Iruka. He leaned against a shed, kunai buried both in his skin and the wall he leaned against. Mizuki was on a tree branch, staring down at Iruka and another male. Naruto, a scroll strapped to his back, stared at Mizuki-Sensei, a curious yet frightened look on his face.

"Twelve years ago," Mizuki began. "You know about the demon fox being sealed, right?" It was then I realized what Mizuki was about to say. "Since that day, a special rule was created for this village."

"A rule?"

No, Mizuki, I mentally pleaded, running forward. Before I could get close enough to stop Mizuki, a tree root that had broken the ground's surface caught my foot, sending me crashing into the ground. This, unfortunately, didn't stop the event proceeding in front of me.

"But that rule was never supposed to be told to you," Mizuki went on.

"Not to me?" Mizuki had clearly caught Naruto's interest. If only he knew what he was about to learn. "What kind of rule?"

Mizuki's dark gaze met Naruto's, his darkness displayed in his eyes. "The rule is that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that you are the nine tailed fox demon."

The last phrase made me flinch. It was so much like what I'd thought four years ago it was scary. I stared, the next words said completely going over me. I was too busy looking at Naruto's unbelieving expression, his mind refusing to process what Mizuki was saying.

When I actually tuned back in, I noticed that Mizuki was pulling back one of his ignoramus shuriken, that evil, twisted smile on his face. "Nobody will ever love you! That scroll was used to seal you up!" My old sensei sent the shuriken flying, aiming right for the Kyuubi host.

Blood flew everywhere, and for a second, I panicked, imagining the large weapon piercing Naruto's flesh. But then I saw something I hadn't expected. Naruto was looking up, Iruka on his hands and knees above him. He said something to Naruto, but the fact I was too far away to hear well and the fact me getting up caused the bushes to rustle made it so I missed it. All I knew was that Naruto suddenly took off, trying to get away from the entire situation.

The moment Naruto was gone, Mizuki stepped off the branch, landing with a dull thud and approaching Iruka as he began to raise. "Hehehe. Naruto isn't the type of person to have a change of heart. And I think he's using the scroll to get revenge."

"Naruto wouldn't do that," I murmured. Iruka didn't hear, but Mizuki apparently did, because they flickered toward me and then widened.

Even though Iruka hadn't heard me, he said something close to what I'd just said. "Naruto isn't like that." He'd gotten to his feet, removing the shuriken point from his back. Blood stained the area around the wound, turning the green a dark red.

"Well, that doesn't really matter. I'll kill Naruto, and then get the scroll. I'll take care of you later." Mizuki leaped off the ground and in the same direction as Naruto. When he was no longer in Iruka's sight, he quickly doubled back, remaining out of the injured scarred ninja's sight. He walked up to me, clearly annoyed. "You stupid little pest. How'd you get out of the ropes?"

"There's rocks everywhere, Mizuki," I explained. "One of them had to be sharp."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You know, it's probably a really good thing I went through the Academy, no matter how much I hate Konoha. It let me learn to always be prepared." He rushed forward, surprising me at first. I brought my leg to kick him, using his own force to hurt him, but instead of trying to attack me, he jabbed me with a kunai, the tip a bright yellow. Instantly my body went limp, refusing to react. Before I hit the ground, Mizuki's arm wrapped around my waist. Grunting at my weight, he turned back and took off after Naruto again.

He passed Naruto, placing me against a tree. "The paralyze should only last for five minutes, but that's more than enough for me to kill a kid who didn't even become a genin."

"Don't underestimate Naruto." It annoyed me how no matter what, people always looked down on Naruto's skills. Few of them had ever even fought him, yet they went ahead and judged his abilities.

"I won't have to. He'll be too dead to underestimate," Mizuki said, turning away and bringing his hand up in a hand sign. There was a poof of smoke, and then Mizuki turned to Iruka. "I'm not sure about you fate, but after meeting the person who is interested in you, I'm sure it'll be far worse."

Once again I wanted to ask what he meant, but I knew it would be pointless. Instead I could only watch him as he raced away, now looking like Iruka.

I knew he placed me where he believed his chase for Naruto would end, so it didn't surprise me when I saw Naruto and Mizuki/Iruka running through the trees above me. What did surprise me, though, was when Naruto head butted the Iruka impostor in the gut. Naruto had never been able to tell the difference between a transformation and the real thing. They both fell to the earth below, Mizuki hitting his back while Naruto skidded before slamming into a tree. He slid to the ground, holding the scroll in front of him.

"Huh? Why, Naruto?" Mizuki asked, doing a great impersonation of Iruka. But then it was replaced by anger when there was a puff of smoke, revealing Mizuki underneath when it faded. "How did you know I wasn't Iruka?"

Naruto grinned, laughing lightly. He let his body relax, the scroll rolling on the ground. And then there was yet another poof of smoke, Iruka appearing from within it. The scroll did the same, only the smoke from it turned out to be hiding a log.

"I'm Iruka," the chunin replied, staring at the other chunin.

"I see." Mizuki turned toward him, obviously annoyed at Iruka for tricking him. He also looked angry. "You'd even transform into what killed your parents to protect him."

"I won't hand the scroll over to someone like you," Iruka stated.

"You idiot! Naruto and I are the same." From the look on Iruka's face, I wasn't the only one who disagreed. "If you use the skills in the scroll, you can do whatever. There's no way the demon fox wouldn't try to use the power in the scroll, unlike what you're assuming."

"Yeah," Iruka said. I was shocked, after seeing everything our sensei had done for Naruto, to hear him say that. "The demon fox would do that, but Naruto is different. He is…. I've acknowledged him as one of my excellent students."

I saw a sudden movement to my right, causing me to look toward that movement. My eyes widened when I saw Naruto leaning against a tree, holding the real scroll to his chest. His eyes were wide, the pain I'd always seen in them there. But there was something else as well. Hope. Iruka had began a speech about Naruto, and as he came to, "He is Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto was crying his eyes out, and I wanted to join him. Finally someone who could truly help Naruto to feel accepted. And I was sure that was what he felt right then. Like he finally belonged.

"Hn. Whatever." Mizuki reached behind him, grasping the remaining shuriken. Iruka began to move, but his back wound made itself known, refusing to allow him to move. "Iruka, I said I'd take care of you later, but I've changed my mind. Hurry up and die!" Like before, the white haired male brought the shuriken back to launch.

"Iruka-sensei!" I screamed. His eyes flickered toward me momentarily, widening when he saw me. But what happened next drew his attention away from me. Instead he looked at Naruto as he suddenly appeared, kneeing Mizuki in the chin and causing the shuriken to stray off course. Mizuki fell back, barely catching himself before he did a body slam against the ground.

"You shouldn't have done that." Mizuki got to his feet, rage burning in his eyes.

But it was nothing compared to Naruto's anger. He got to his feet, holding the scroll up while he glowered at the other male. "Don't touch Iruka-sensei, or I'll kill you."

"You idiot!" Iruka called. "Why'd you come out? Run away!"

Mizuki let out a bark of laughter. "I'll kill someone like you in one shot!"

"Try it, trash. I'll return the pain a thousand times over," Naruto threatened, bring his hands up to form a t.

"Then do it, demon fox," Mizuki challenged.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" There was a gigantic poof of smoke, taking up most of the clearing. I was blinded by the smoke for a second, and as it cleared, my mouth dropped open. Taking up the entire clearing was Narutos. Thousand of Narutos, gathering both on the ground and in trees. Some of the Narutos cracked their fists, preparing for the upcoming beating. "What's wrong, Sensei? Weren't you going to take me out in one shot?"

Mizuki looked around, terror clearly displayed on his features. "What the-? No, this can't be happening."

But it most definitely was. All the clones lunged at the same time, every single one aiming for Mizuki. I could hear his muffled cries from within, wincing a few times. I had no doubt that Mizuki was going to be out cold when this beating was over.

As if to prove me right, when I thought that, there was a gigantic puff of smoke. When it cleared, there was only one Naruto left, his breathing slightly labored. He turned from the swollen and bruised Mizuki and stumbled toward Iruka. As he did, I finally made my appearance known to him.

"Naruto!" I cried, making him look toward me. I went to get up and run to him, but then I remembered the paralyze. So instead I could only sit there, trying to will the paralyze away as Naruto's eyes widened.

"Sasaui?" For a moment, I saw fear flicker in his eyes. But after examining my own eyes for a while, he smiled. "Sasaui!" Despite his tired state, he ran toward me, such a wide grin it hurt me on his face. He knelt down beside me, scanning to make sure there was no injuries. "Why aren't you moving?"

I attempted to shrug, but I still failed. Before I could reply, Iruka called, "Naruto, help Sasaui over her!"

"Okay," Naruto shouted back. He picked me up bridal style and walked over to where I was. He gently placed me down against a tree. Iruka sat to my left while Naruto sat in front of me.

"So, what exactly are you doing here?" He readjusted his sitting position so that he was more comfortable. "And why aren't you moving?" Apparently my lack of movement was very easily noticed.

"I'm not sure exactly what I'm doing here. I was taking a walk after having a nightmare-" I stopped, my throat closing as I looked at Naruto. I looked at Iruka instead of Naruto, and thankfully he didn't seem to notice. "Mizuki attacked me, saying something about being wanted or something."

"So he kidnapped you and brought you with him?" my sensei guessed.

I nodded. "After I escaped the first time," I went on, "he got annoyed and paralyzed me."

Iruka pursed his lips, trying to figure out Mizuki's reasoning. When he couldn't, Iruka sighed. "Well, it should wear off sooner rather than later. We'll rest a little here since all of us seem to have a problem. If you can't move by the time we recover, I can carry you." His dark eyes moved to Naruto. "Until then, though, Naruto, come here."

Naruto complied immediately, walking over to Iruka and sitting down in front of him.

"Close your eyes," Iruka instructed. When Naruto's lids slid over his blue orbs, the scarred ninja went on by untying his headband. He reached forward, grasping both side of Naruto's goggles and sliding them off. With those out of the way, Iruka reached around the blond head and tied the headband there. "Now open your eyes." As Naruto did, the sun peaked over the horizon, washing everything in light. It was then he noticed Iruka's missing headband as well as his goggles in his hand. Naruto reached up, tapping the metal of the headband. His eyes sparkling, he launched himself at Iruka, pulling him into a hug.

I smiled, happy to see the event playing out before me. I felt teary myself just watching it. Because Naruto and Iruka were so focused on each other, neither of them noticed what I did. To the right, there was movement. Unsure what it was, I looked. I couldn't see anything except for green eyes, the rest hidden in a tree's shadow. But the most noticeable thing was the green chakra snaking its way toward Mizuki from the forest.

"You want to live, don't you?" I heard him whisper. "Then don't fail."

The green chakra surrounded Mizuki, and as it did, the injuries began to heal. The bruises lightened to the normal color and the swells shrank. His eyes fluttered open, and as they did, the rested right on me. He nodded, as if in understanding, and then got to his feet.

"Uh, guys," I began. "Mizu-"

Before I could finish, the white haired man jumped forward. Both Naruto and Iruka flinched, but he was already at me. His arms wrapped around my waist, jumping back up and launching himself back from pushing off a tree. He landed in the same spot he'd jumped from.

"Sasaui!" Naruto yelled, his blue eyes hardening, the tears vanishing instantly. Instead it was replaced by rage. "Let her go, Mizuki!"

He released me, instead wrapping his arm around my neck and pushing his forearm against my throat. "Take a step forward and I kill her," Mizuki threatened. There seemed to be a hint of fear mixed in with the anger in his voice, but surprisingly it wasn't directed at Naruto. Instead he kept on glancing back.

"Mizuki," Iruka growled, trying to get to his feet. He let out a cry of pain, stumbling before falling back down against the tree. "Dang it!"

My captor smirked. "You're an idiot if you think either of you two can defeat me. I want you to hand over your scroll. If you do, I promise I won't hurt Sasaui."

I wasn't sure if Naruto or Iruka noticed the way his said "I", but I sure did. I saw those green eyes in my head. They were so very familiar, but I couldn't place where I'd seen them before.

Naruto glanced at the very scroll Mizuki was talking about. His eyes clearly showed the mental war that went on within him. Who the winning side would be was anybody's guess, but I hoped it was the right one.

"Naruto, don't give him the scroll," Iruka murmured.

"But Sasaui….." His eyes met mine, and when they looked back at Mizuki, a type of dark rage filled them. It made me flinch, so similar to the hatred he'd looked at me with four years ago when the Kyuubi possessed him.

"Naruto," I whispered in a type of warning.

His eyes remained locked on Mizuki, though, his gaze distant at the time as being there. That made no sense to me, but it was the only way to describe them. The longer he stared at Mizuki, the angrier he seemed to become.

"Let her go, now, Mizuki, or I swear I'll kill you." Naruto's voice was even darker. And it was then the chakra began to come off him like steam. Only it wasn't the blue chakra I was used to. Instead it was red, just like his eyes were now.

It was then that everything else seemed to just fall away, leaving me with Naruto. As well as the bloodlust. The same bloodlust I'd felt in my dream, only this time more intense. Rather than filling me, it was suffocating me, surrounding me, completely inescapable.

Kill! a voice screeched within me. **KILL!**

My vision became red, my body aching to lung forward. Begging to. To complete the task being given to it. I could no longer see my friend. All I saw was the fox behind him, more than likely just a figment of my imagination, but it was still there. All I could do was stare, the bloodlust pounding within me. How hard would it be to simply stab him in the heart?

Moving faster than my eyes could follow, Kyuubi reached up to grasp my elbow instead. And right before his final jerk forward, Kyuubi's eyes reverted to their normal blue. Not Kyuubi's eyes. Naruto's eyes. Staring at me in horror as my arm pierced through his gut. As I became the one who ended his life.

The sudden memory from my dream shocked me, but it sure had an effect. Instead of all my focus being on Kyuubi, it came down to Naruto. He was still standing there, the red mist raising from him, but then I saw something else as well. To his right, as if a shadow of his heart, was him, only younger, in his knees held against his chest. He was crying, bodiless eyes glaring down at him with a mixture of hate and fear. Then it changed. I saw him still, but now he was standing, staring with anger and loathing at the very villagers who directed the same feeling toward him. He began to turn, to run from all this, when my hand was suddenly placed on his shoulder. When he looked at me, at his best friend, all that anger evaporated, replaced by a sense of belonging. And as he realized I was still there for him, it overwhelmed him, causing him to fling himself at me.

And I'd just been thinking of ways to kill him. I'd wondered about whether it would be hard to not to stab him in the heart. My best friend. I knew what it was like to almost be killed by your friend. Naruto had almost killed me. It wasn't something that anyone deserved to experience.

"Stop," I whispered. "Naruto, please." My arms began to shake, the cause being me sobbing. "Stop it!" I'd finally gotten control of my body again. The paralyze had faded apparently. I struggled, trying to get out of Mizuki's grip. He lost his grip for a second, surprised at my sudden movement. He regained it before I had the chance to get away, though.

Naruto's eyes remained locked on Mizuki though, his own body trembling. It was as if he was fighting back his rage. I could almost see the inner conflict going on within him.

There was a chuckled, one I was sure only Mizuki and I could hear because it was so silent. Mizuki tensed behind me, and then his grip suddenly slackened. I didn't even pause to see why he'd let go of me. Instead I took off toward Naruto. "Stop it, Naruto. Just stop it!" I threw my arms around him, trying to send my power to him. To help him defeat the rage the demon was obviously fueling. That was what seemed to power it. When he fought Taro, his rage had drawn forth the demon's energy. It was the same now. And both times were my fault. Because I'd been caught up in a situation where rage could be used to increase his power. And the fox used that.

Naruto shook in my arms, but he finally forced his eyes away from the collapsed Mizuki. "What if he'd killed you?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Then he would have. Killing him wouldn't change that." Hah. The very thing I was always trying to get through Sasuke's head I was trying to get into Naruto's head. That was something I never would have expected.

"Not you, Sasaui. I'm not going to lose you," he murmured. "You were the first person who ever became my friend. You're my family, Sasaui. You, Sasuke, and Iruka. I'm don't want to lose any of you."

I felt my heart squeeze at being called his family. I could understand what he meant. He'd never had a family. To suddenly have one must have been something he held very important. Just like I did. I'd already lost my family once, and I'd do anything to protect those who were part of it now. You didn't realize the value of something until it was gone. It was the lucky ones who were able to get another one. They weren't always the same, but they helped fill the gap. Naruto'd had that gap since he was born. He had dealt with that for seven or eight years. I'd had a new family the second I lost mine. I'd had Naruto and Sasuke there to fill the gap. I'd had all my friends. Naruto had nothing. How important did his family have to be to him?

"Then give us strength," I advised. I began to feel weird, unsure exactly what to say. Unsure what exactly to do. What if I did a simple thing wrong and he snapped?

"Thank you, Sasaui," he said, his body finally relaxing. He gave me a weak smile. "Thanks."

I felt a beaming smile spread across my face. I had my Naruto back. That dark, hateful Naruto was gone. Last time I'd lost him, but this time I'd helped keep him here. No matter how sick it made me to even think of him losing himself to that darkness, it made me glad that I could prevent that from happening again.

Remembering the events that led up to my release, I turned to Mizuki. "Sensei, did he collapse the moment he let go?" I asked.

Iruka nodded. His eyes had been on him the entire time, staring at something in the back of his neck. Releasing Naruto, I walked over to Mizuki. I bent down. My eyes widened when I saw a senbon sticking out of his neck, a strange white liquid on it. I went to pick it out, but Iruka called, "Leave it in, Sasaui. We'll take him to some medic ninjas who can examine it. It could be some kind of poison." He glanced into the woods, his eyes showing he was lost in thought. "Do you know where the senbon came from?"

I shook my head. "No. I did, however, see some green eyes in the forest earlier." I glanced back, already knowing I wouldn't see the eyes. I saw them in my mind's eye, though, staring out at us, as if observing a rat in a maze.

"Are you okay, Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked, glancing at our sensei. He walked over, more or less falling into a sitting position.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We should probably get moving now rather than give Mizuki time to either die or wake up." With some help from an annoyed Naruto, having to stand right after sitting, Iruka got to his feet. They walked over to where I was still knelt on the ground. Despite his weak state, Iruka picked up Mizuki and placed him on his shoulder, refusing to let either of us in case he woke up on the return trip.

Because of Naruto and Iruka being exhausted, the trip back was a longer than needed. That was just fine, though, because I was still thinking. I knew Naruto was doing the same, probably still trying to process that he had a demon sealed within him. If I'd had trouble coping with the fact my best friend was a demon host, how must the actual demon host feel when he found out?

"Have you known, Sasaui?" Naruto asked, disrupting a peaceful silence that had fallen over the three of us. "Did you know what I was?"

Iruka, his eyes narrowed in thought, looked over at me. "You know, Naruto's right. You didn't freak at all when the energy came out of him. If anything, you knew what was going on."

I almost froze, but I knew in doing so it would just make them suspicious that it was worse than I would let on. Instead I nodded. "Yeah, I knew. I was made not to tell, though. I found some secret files once when helping my dad write some reports. They were about Naruto having the nine tails in him and stuff. But that's just it. It's within Naruto. It doesn't say anywhere that it is Naruto. And I understand that."

"Yet you didn't freak? You didn't run like the rest?" Naruto murmured, a strange expression on his face. It was like a mixture of awe and joy.

I shook my head, reaching over and squeezing his hand once before letting go. "No way, Naruto. Like you said, we're a family. No matter how many flaws your family has, you love them anyway. I mean, I put up with Sasuke, don't I?"

We laughed, something that felt so good after everything that just happened. I stared forward again, placing my hands behind my head and locking my fingers the same way Naruto did.

And with the new silence, my thoughts returned to the thing I'd thought of before. Those green eyes. I was fascinated in them. It had nothing to do with the mystery behind them. Well, what I thought about was a mystery to me. It was the fact I'd finally realized where I'd seen those emerald eyes.

They were mirrors of the green eye I saw every time I looked in the mirror.


	10. Episode 10: Just One

"What's the report?" Hiruzen asked, watching over his village. Behind him was an anbu, bowing on one knee. It had been a day since Mizuki had convinced Naruto to steal the scroll. Few knew exactly what had happened then, but with the combined efforts of Iruka, Naruto, and Sasaui, the Hokage and others involved in the event knew what had happened.

"The senbon had a strange liquid that blocks out memory," the anbu explained. "It only blocked out one part, though. It was right between him leaving his meeting with Naruto and when he found himself at his apartment."

Hiruzen nodded, his eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out what it could mean. "I wonder what could have happened that the green eyed figure didn't want him to remember." The elderly Hokage sighed, turning to face the anbu. "Any news on Umiko?"

The anbu shook his head. "We came up with a blank on her as well. It stopped after she walked down the same road as he had. The weird thing is everything else is fine. It seems like they both lost their memories around the same time they passed that street."

"Why is it so hard for people to just make these things simple?" Hiruzen shook his head in exasperation. "Was the same memory erasing chemicals in Umiko?"

"There was."

"Is there any way to reverse it?"

"The medics are trying to figure that out as we speak," the anbu replied. "They've been at it for the entire day. They've gotten a flew flashes, mostly of green eyes like the others described."

"Thank you. You are now dismissed." The anbu disappeared in a poof of smoke. The Hokage sighed, shaking his head. "Why can't answers to be easy to grasp when it comes to things like this?"

****

Everyone in the room was eager. They chatted to their friends, trying to figure out what would happen now that everyone was genin. It had been a couple days since the Mizuki incident, our last day at the Academy finally arriving.

I'd meant to sit beside Naruto and Sasuke, but I'd slept in, both allowing Sasuke to go on and giving Sakura Haruno the opportunity to take my seat. Sitting beside Shikamaru wasn't an option either because Ino sat beside of him, the other seat occupied by Taro. Leaving me with Chouji. I didn't have a problem with that. He was actually sharing his chips with me since I hadn't eaten breakfast. Even if I had, he would have shared with me, but I rarely ever asked him to.

Iruka still hadn't entered the room, so many were fantasizing over what would happen when he arrived. The most popular idea was they'd each be assigned their first mission.

Feminine shouts quickly silenced everyone. I glanced back, Chouji doing the same, to see what was going on. I sighed when I saw that Naruto was crouched in front of Sasuke on the desk, glaring him right in the eye. All of Sasuke's annoying fan-girls were yelling at Naruto, but he was oblivious to them. It didn't matter how big of a bond they had. It didn't matter that they were each other's family. All that mattered was that they were rivals.

Letting out a sudden exclamation of excitement, the boy in front of Naruto threw his arm back. The moment it made contact with Naruto, however, he brought it back. He turned to apologize, but he, along with almost everyone else, paused at the strange sight before them.

Naruto and Sasuke Ikissing/I! I was the first to make by doubling over in laughter. They both retreated as it dawned on them what was happening. I laughed even harder when they started gagging, as if they could make the memory fade that way. Naruto suddenly froze, and I quickly understood why. The killing intent rolling off the girls glaring at him was so immense they'd make any s-class ninja run for the hills.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you are so dead," Sakura said.

Maybe I should have helped him, but even I thought that would be pushing my protective nature too far. It would be like getting between Naruto and a wild fire. It would do nothing but get us both killed.

A little after a beaten and bruised Naruto reclaimed his seat, the fan-girls doing the same, Iruka walked in. The entire class hushed, practically leaning forward to find out what was coming up in their future.

"As of today," Iruka began, "you are all ninjas. To get here you faced multiple trials and hardships, but that's nothing. What comes next is far worse. You are only genin, first level ninjas. All the genin will be grouped into three man squads except for one group because there is thirty-one students. Each squad will be led by a jonin - an elite ninja."

I jerked upright. Three man squad? My eyes instantly traveled upward to where my brother and Naruto sat. Naruto had a thoughtful look on his face while Sasuke was glaring. Knowing Sasuke, he didn't like the thought of being on a team. That was one of the characteristics of being a loner. Sakura was arguing with Ino about something, but I tuned them out. There was thirty-one kids in the class. There'd have to be one four man squad. What if we were all separated? What if only one of us got left out? I looked at Iruka again, praying that fate was on my side.

"We want each squad to have a balance of strength and ability, so that's how we sat them up." Iruka moved the papers from his face and looked at us. "I will now announce the squads," he said, returning the papers to their original place.

I bit down on my lip as he went through the squads, listening intently for one of our names. Had I done anything wrong lately? I didn't think I had, but there was always that off chance that fate deemed me as a bad person and decided to be a butt hole to me. I mean, sure, I understood that I'd have to accept it if I wasn't on their team. But they were my family. I had to make sure that they were safe.

"Squad seven," Iruka continued. "Naruto Uzumaki-"

I tensed, staring at Iruka. If it were possible, I'd will the answer from his lips. Especially when he said the next name.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Who knew you could want someone to say your name so badly it hurt. Or maybe that was just my finger nails biting into my palm. I couldn't tell. All I knew was that every cell within me screamed at Iruka to just say it. Just say my name!

As if sensing that cry within me, Iruka's eyes came to a stop on me. His dark, thoughtful eyes locked with my mismatched ones, seeming to try to look deeper at something. What that something was, however, I couldn't tell. All I knew was that he still hadn't called the last name. I glanced back at Naruto and Sasuke. They were staring at me, Naruto's eyes fearful while Sasuke's were closed. I had a feeling he was worried, but he knew there was a big chance I wouldn't be on their team and had accepted it.

"And Sakura Haruno."

My heart sank, going right past my stomach and to my feet. Part of me had expected it, but that other part of me had screamed and prayed that I was their teammate. I stared down at wall in front of me, trying to comprehend exactly what had happened. Sakura had not only taken my seat between Naruto and Sasuke, but he had also taken my spot in Naruto and Sasuke's team.

Once again I looked back at Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto was half freaking out and half happy. He had a gigantic crush on Sakura, but that crush was conflicting with his need to be with his family as well. The cool kid wannabe simply stared at Iruka, almost like he'd noticed the way he'd looked me in the eyes and was trying to decipher the message.

"Okay, that's it for the groups. I'm going to introduce the jonin teachers in the afternoon. Until then, you have some free time."

I stared, something seeming off. And then it hit me. He'd gone through all ten teams, and not one of the names had been mine. 


	11. Episode 11: Fear

**Okay, well, to begin with...**

**I AM SO SORRY!**

**I mean, seriously. In three more months, it would be a year since I updated this story. I'm sure it feels very neglected. And then, when I finally do come back, it's with this crappy chapter. Again, I'm so sorry!**

**As for this chapter, to me, everything is mostly mental. Not really emotion, not really anything action-y, just mental. And if it seems redundant at times, I know. I mostly meant to do that, but please tell me if I over did it (it's one of the reasons that Sasaui gets so annoyed in this chapter). One final thing about this chapter - there was a plot change right around two thirds of the way through, more or less. So, at the end, what I did was kinda unexpected, even to me, but it, along with most of this chapter, is kinda showing something that will affect near the end of this story (Tainted Guardian if you are lost and don't know what story that is). So, if I OOCed a certain someone, or if it just seems dumb and redundant, that is most likely why, because most of the thing that goes on is, well, to me a bit repetitive. I mean, to me, it made sense that this kind of thing would happen, but I don't know about you all, so please share with me! I'm really worried about this chapter! Also, the very end also changed. It was suppose to be different.**

**The only other thing I can think of is that I want to mention this - next month, Tainted Guardian turns two. I know one thing I'm going to try to do, which is update a chapter and update to the Lost Stories with Kataki's thing, so if you were looking forward to that, sorry. You have to wait a month. But I also wanted to do something else, but I can't figure out what. Oh, and if you guys want, you can do something, too. I don't know what you'd want to do, but hey, just an offer. What's funny is Cursed Saint turns two a month after, so if you have any ideas for it, please tell me that as well.**

**Oh, and if anyone has any other name ideas for the title (whether or be song ideas or just some random title), please let me know, because I really couldn't figure anything out.**

**Well, at least try to enjoy!**

* * *

><p>I couldn't help but stare at Iruka, almost expecting him to suddenly laugh and say something like "Oops. I forgot. I guess I'm just too used to only having three people per team. Sasaui Uchiha, you're in team seven."<p>

Nothing like that came, though, leaving me staring, dumbfounded, at my sensei. Most kids were talking excitedly among themselves, bragging about their teams or complaining. Iruka seemed to be about to say something else, but before he could, someone else spoke out - someone who had also apparently figured out about my lack of a team.

"Wait a second, Iruka-sensei! That's not right!"

Every head turned as they heard the voice they deemed obnoxious. Many of them complained about the blond shinobi just taking Sasuke being on his team very badly, not knowing their strong bond like I did. Iruka, I noticed, sent me an apologetic glance as if knowing exactly what was going on. Had he known that he had skipped my name?

Iruka's dark eyes moved from me to Naruto, already exasperated before his eyes even got there. "What's wrong, Naruto?"

The Uzumaki was standing at his seat, his arms crossed and his eyes nearly narrowed into slits. "You even acknowledged that one team would have four members in their team, Sensei. So why doesn't Sasaui have a team?" he demanded.

Murmuring spread through the seated genin as they realized the same thing I, along with my friend, had – I was without a team. As more and more people realized this, their interest grew in the question. They also wanted to know why I had no team. At least now I knew I had to get my answer. It would be impossible for Iruka to dodge all the questions that were sure to be sent his way if he avoided it.

Despite this, it was exactly what he did.

"That's none of your concern right now, Naruto. That will be dealt with. Until then, you all are dismissed for lunch. Return here afterward to meet your Jonin instructor." He seemed to hope that it would end there, but Iruka just didn't get his wish. Surprisingly, this time it wasn't Naruto, nor was it me.

"Iruka, if there's a problem with my sister being a genin, I want to know."

I swear half the girl's swooned at the cold, calm, collected voice of the cool kid wannabe. Frankly, I was shocked that he would speak up. When I glanced over at Sasuke, I saw he had his chin resting in his clasped hands, speaking through them. His gaze was both demanding and annoyed, remaining their rock-like self and letting none of his thoughts be known. There was one thing I was sure of, though – if there was any problem with me, he would make himself part of it. He'd been extremely protective since the Mizuki incident, and at that moment I believed he may not fully trust Iruka-sensei, either.

This caused the ponytailed chunin to sigh. "Sasuke, as I just told your friend, this matter is dropped. I will discuss the issue with Sasaui while you all are out for lunch. Until then, forget about it. Get to know your team-mates or something." He gave him a meaningful look. "But do not try to interfere."

His dark eyes narrowed, and for a moment, I thought he may just keep up with the argument. Instead, though, he ended it with the most Sasuke like response. "Hn."

Iruka sighed, obviously happy to have the matter dealt with. "Now, class, as I said before, you all are dismissed for lunch. Sasaui, if you wouldn't mind, would you please stay behind?"

When he looked at me, I nodded.

With that settled, everyone rose from their seats. Chouji tapped my shoulder before I could leave, though. When I looked back, he seemed a little apologetic for stopping me from getting my answers. "Uh, sorry about the, well, no team thing."

I smiled. Classical Chouji – always so nice. "Don't worry about it. Hey, maybe I'll be on the team with you and Shikamaru. That would be fun, huh?"

This brought a smile to the brunette's face as well. It was a little sad, though, still sorry for the strange turn of events. "Yeah, that would be great. I'm sure you'd be happier, though, if you were with Naruto and Sasuke." It may have just been my imagination, but I thought I saw a flash in Chouji's eyes when he mentioned Naruto. Was it anger? No, that was just stupid. The chubby Akimichi was too gentle to feel anger, and he was friends with Naruto as well. That conclusion made no sense. I pushed the matter aside, figuring it didn't matter.

"I'll be just fine with either team. Both ways I'm with two great friends and one of Sasuke's fan girls," I pointed out.

Laughing slightly, Chouji remarked, "That is true. Anyway, I think I'm gonna go have lunch with my team." A huge grin spread across his face. "My mom made me some amazing barbeque chicken to have for lunch today."

Rolling my eyes, I simply smiled before making my way out of the row. Chouji went the opposite way, where Shikamaru was walking up the steps. He called for the lazy boy, convincing him to wait.

As I walked out of the seats, I realized there was someone waiting for me as well. Sasuke stood there, his arms stuffed in his pockets as he waited for me.

Already having an idea of what I was about to be told, I walked toward him. "Yes, Sasuke?"

His serious dark eyes rested on me for a moment, still trying to calculate a reason even as he looked at me. "As soon as Iruka tells you what's up, I want you to tell me. Got it? And if he….." He paused, glancing back at the man he spoke of. "If he tries to do anything like steal you or something, scream. I know you're strong, but Iruka knows your-"

"Oh, shush it, Sasuke. Iruka's not going to try to grab me and run. He protected Naruto with his life. No matter what you think, he's nothing like Mizuki," I said. So I'd been right - he didn't trust our sensei. I guess he really just wasn't a trusting type even toward people he'd known for years.

He didn't look entirely convinced, but my twin dropped it. "Again, come to me the second you learn anything. Got it, Sasaui?"

I sighed, but finally I nodded. "I'll tell you the first chance I get." He didn't seem to fully believe me until most of the kids were out, and it was around then he finally left.

As he did, he let out a simple, oh so annoying, "Hn."

I glared, and as if he felt it, a small smirk pulled at his lips. My twin finally gone allowing me to be free, I walked down to where Iruka waited by his desk.

The room was almost completely empty by the time I got to him. The scarred ninja didn't speak at first, so I had the impression he was waiting until everyone was gone to speak. When he finally did, I was surprised by what it was he told me.

"Sasaui, we're going to need to go and talk to the Hokage," he informed me. Before I could ask any questions, he continued speaking. "I'm really sorry, by the way, for the trouble of you being without a team right now. Most of the reason you are is because I recommended we waited rather than going ahead and putting you on your planned team."

My eyebrow rose. "Wait a second, Iruka-sensei. Did you just say you're the main reason I don't have a team?" I was sure I'd heard him clearly, but it was just something hard to believe. Iruka-sensei was my favorite among the different ones I'd met over my four years in the Academy. He had helped me a lot in my growth as a shinobi, especially without a family to help teach me extra things. Iruka had been very kind after the massacre and even said we could take off as much time as we needed – he would come by if needed afterward and help us catch up. My like toward him had grown after the Mizuki incident and seeing him work so hard to protect Naruto. It was because I liked him so much it stunned me he'd do something like recommend I not be on a team yet.

He smiled apologetically, the edges of his scar pulling up with his cheeks. "I'm sure you're confused, Sasaui. That's only natural." Iruka walked out from behind his podium and gestured toward a door. It was the one he usually walked through that led to another exit. "Come on. Let's go see the Hokage so he can explain everything to you."

Still confused, I simply followed him, the whole time still trying to figure out a reason for this unexpected event.

****

Maybe it was a bit paranoid, but Sasuke couldn't help but feel uncomfortable leaving Sasaui alone with Iruka. Everyone had trusted Mizuki as well, and then he was suddenly trying to kidnap his sister and kill Naruto. Sasaui had told him just how incredibly hard Iruka had worked to protect them, but a lot of people were good at hiding who they were.

There were dozens of times _he_ had protected both Sasaui and him from danger, and yet in the end, _he_ had taken everything away from them. Nobody could be trusted, it was as simple as that. One didn't know what someone else thought, what they would do.

At first, back when the event happened and Sasaui's body was nowhere to be found in the compound, Sasuke'd had a deep, unshakable fear that his twin had joined their cursed older brother, leaving with the traitor. There were still times he wondered if she would have, times he worried eventually she would. His concerns increased every time she kept secrets from him. She didn't realize he knew, but Sasuke knew.

He knew there was something she was keeping from him about Naruto, which he only had one guess for. There were times that his twin seemed uncomfortable around Naruto. At times Sasuke wondered if she was thinking of the same thing he was, even if he never planned on going through with it. _He_ had told them they had to kill their closest friend if they wanted to gain power. If he had to choose a best friend aside from Sasaui, it would have to be Naruto. The blond was obnoxious and annoying, but he was also Sasuke's friend and rival from the very start. Their bond had grown, so at times he wondered if Naruto would be the one he'd have to kill.

Was Sasaui thinking of that? Was that why she would seem so strange around him? Would she kill him if that's what it meant to find out the murderer's reason? After all, that was her goal, unlike Sasuke's to just kill him for what he'd done. Of course, he'd promised he wouldn't, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be ready.

He knew there was something in the past that had happened he didn't know about. There were two types of nightmares she would have – those that were caused by the massacre and those formed by unknown events. Whatever those events were had happened back when they were eight or nine. That was when they'd first started. No matter how much he pushed, though, Sasaui kept the details from him. Sasuke couldn't fathom what this secret might be.

Despite this fear, he still wanted to protect her. No matter what, she was his sister and twin. Sasaui had always been there for him, fighting to protect him from everything, even the danger revenge might bring. Sasuke couldn't bear the thought of losing his protective, sweet, caring, strange sister. He knew what it felt like, having already thought he'd lost her once.

It was because of this that he worried about Iruka doing something as he stared at the wooden walls of the old building. A couple floors down was a tea shop. They allowed Sasuke to come to the top room when he needed a place to hang out.

It was slightly cold in the room, but Sasuke didn't feel affected. He'd grown used to the room's chilly temperature and found comfort in it. The wooden room provided him a familiar comfort that he could usually only get at home. If he ever got too cold, the sun was right behind him, outside of the raised wooden window, warming his back. It was quiet, barely any noise coming from the rooms below, and he was alone. Though he didn't mind Sasaui's company, there were times he just needed to be by himself.

Sasuke stared down at the rice ball in his hand, contemplating rather or not he should finish up quickly and head back to the Academy. Iruka had instructed him not to interfere, but if he was done with lunch, there was no reason he shouldn't be allowed back into the room. There was the chance that it would annoy Sasaui, though. Despite her own protective nature, she didn't like being protected. It even annoyed her sometimes. Without even knowing it, she put so much on her own shoulders, refusing to let anyone else to bear it.

With a sigh, he took a bite off his rice ball. _Just believe in her, Sasuke. She'll be alright,_ he instructed himself, going to take another bite.

Before he could, though, he felt a sudden chakra behind him. A familiar chakra at that.

It was too late, though. The next second, Naruto was through the window.

****

I was quiet as I walked behind Iruka, fiddling with a string that hung off my dark grey-blue T-shirt. Another nervous habit of mine was chewing on my lip. I'd stopped earlier, though, because I was sure that I had tasted blood. Since then I'd changed my attention to the string, which was now being twirled around my finger to the point it slightly hurt.

Either sensing or seeing my anxiety, Iruka assured, "It'll be fine, Sasaui. Just don't worry about it, okay?"

"Yes, Iruka-sensei." I still worried, though. What if something was wrong with me? What if I couldn't be a shinobi? What if they'd found out how similar those green eyes from two nights before were to mine and thought I had something to do with it? The last fear may be irrational, but I was afraid this would end up happening.

Our footsteps echoed off the empty halls of the Hokage's building. We'd only reached the correct floor a couple moments ago. For the last fifteen minutes we'd been climbing steps and going through other hallways, people that I thought were the new teams' Jonin instructors leaving the building. Now it was silent, only the occasional person passing us. At least the lights were on. If not, I was sure I'd pass out then and there.

We finally stopped in front of a door. After a quick knock from Iruka, the familiar voice of the Hokage gave them permission to enter. My sensei went in first, keeping the door propped open so I could walk in as well.

The first thing I smelt as I entered the familiar room was the disgusting smell of the Hokage's smoke. Even though there were huge windows, it still couldn't get rid of the recent smell as the elderly man exhaled from the pipe. Said man stood behind his desk, looking over the village from the very windows that should be wafting out the stench.

"Hello, Iruka. Hello, Sasaui," the Hokage greeted as he turned. Both Iruka and I bowed as his sight fell on us. When we rose, a small smile had made its way onto the old man's face. "Thank you, Iruka, for bringing young Sasaui to me."

"You are welcome, Milord."

"Would you like to stay with me while I discuss the situation with Sasaui?"

"Sorry, but I don't believe I have the time to stay," Iruka apologized. "I need to be there for any kids returning and I also need to get everything organized for the teams."

The Hokage stepped forward, setting his pipe on the table after one final poof he'd sneaked while Iruka spoke. "Thank you then, Iruka, for both bringing Sasaui and for your great work."

"It is my pleasure." With another bow, the scarred chunin left, leaving me alone with the Hokage.

"Welcome, Sasaui."

It was then that the Hokage finally focused on me. He had such kind eyes, yet behind them were the fierceness and experience of a true shinobi. To me, that just made him fitting to be Hokage – he was nice and caring, yet strong and ready to defend his village. I'd grown to have a great respect for him, and I also found comfort in being around him. It was almost like the Hokage was just a grandfather to everyone, treating the villagers like his children and doing everything for them. I'd seen this greatly after the massacre of my clan.

Right now, though, he held information I had no clue would be good or bad and had me very fearful. Would he be delivering terrible news that would end my shinobi career? Or would it be even worse? Once again I found myself twirling the string painfully tight around my finger just to keep myself calm.

"I'm sure you're very lost on this entire situation, aren't you?" he asked. Now as he looked at me, I noticed a sadness in his eyes, as well as something else that was part of why I loved him. I could see the care in his eyes, something I hadn't even seen in some of my own clansmen.

I nodded in response. "I am very confused, Lord Hokage." Wondering if he was waiting for me to get things started, I asked, "Why is it, Milord, that I do not have a team?"

The Hokage sat in his seat, his eyes never leaving me. The entire time they seemed to search for something. It wasn't until a few more moments after he was seated he started glancing around. Convinced of something, his focus returned to me. "Sasaui, you don't have a team because there may be a problem with the team I want you on."

"A problem, Lord Hokage?" My first worry was it would be one that wouldn't be able to fix, but I decided not to think too much about that scenario.

"How often have you sparred with Naruto, either in class or outside when you train with him?"

His line of questioning just made me more confused. I'd thought it would help to give me a hint, but there was nothing I could see that would have to do with Naruto and me training. It did, however, make me think that my team just might actually be with Naruto and Sasuke. "Maybe a dozen times in class, and then outside of it, more times than I can count."

The elderly man nodded, taking this in as he thought of his next question. "Have you ever noticed anything strange when you fight him?"

This answer took a little bit more time to think about. I never _remembered_ something strange happening. But that was just an instant thought. If I really thought about it, would I come up with something strange? I started reviewing any battles I could remember vividly. There was nothing really noteworthy about any of them except the time Naruto choked on a dandelion, but I didn't think that was what the Hokage was referring to. "Nothing big."

"Is that so?" The Hokage became distant, as if he had fallen back into the past. Whatever it was he thought of caused him to sigh sadly, a slight pain in his eyes when he looked at me. "How vividly do you remember the day the Kyuubi possessed Naruto?"

My throat closed up as my mind automatically replayed the events. Naruto, chained to the floor by wood. Those hateful, demonic red eyes. The rage flowing off him. The pain as he attacked me, both physical and mental. My own screaming instinct to kill him.

"I remember it very clearly, Lord Hokage." My voice was a mere whisper, my chest aching in my chest. Thinking of that day didn't hurt nearly as much as thinking of the massacre, but it definitely made second in the worst thought. Or it was at least tied with the hour or so I thought even Sasuke, and slightly Naruto, was dead.

"Have you noticed any affect it's had on you?"

The answer was immediate. "Yes. I've had a lot of nightmares about it." I hoped he wouldn't ask me to go into detail about it, and thankfully, he didn't.

The Hokage asked, "Anything else?"

"Not that I've noticed," I replied after a moment of thought.

"I see. So Iruka was right." The Hokage sighed, troubled by this. "Sasaui, Iruka believes that there is something wrong with you. Knowing what I do about the Naruto incident, I believe that he is right."

I raised an eyebrow. It seemed like the more he spoke, the more lost I became. "What do you mean, Lord Hokage? What's wrong with me?" My heart clenched, fear pounding through me. So there was a problem with me. It wasn't about something else, but it was about me. What was the problem? If it wasn't fixable, what would happen?

"Don't look so scared, Sasaui. It's just something that makes me wary of putting you on your team. It is very common for a new fear to form in someone once they've gone through something terrible," the Hokage explained. "In this case, that terrible something is Naruto attacking you while the Kyuubi possessed him. Iruka has led me to believe that because of this, you're afraid of Naruto."

The statement would have been true back when it first happened, but now, it just shocked me to hear the Hokage say something like that. I almost laughed. They had come to a conclusion that I had overcome four years ago. Right?

"Uh, Lord Hokage, I hate to disagree with you, but I don't think I am," I argued. "I used to be, but then I was sure that the Kyuubi is sealed within Naruto, not Naruto himself. Since then, I haven't been afraid of him."

"Maybe when just around him, no, I'm sure you're not afraid of him. You're one of the few who know him for who he is rather than how the adults see him as the Kyuubi."

He was even acknowledging the fact that I did, indeed, know Naruto wasn't the nine tailed beast. Then what fear was he talking about. I quickly voiced this thought as a question.

"Because it's not being around Naruto you fear," the Hokage said, "but that he will lose control again. Or maybe simply that you'll suddenly come face to face with the Kyuubi again, so maybe it would be better phrased you're afraid of the Kyuubi taking control. Either way, Iruka has seen you hesitate multiple times when fighting Naruto. He says there are moments when you look afraid, as if he's going to try and kill you."

I felt the color drain from my face. "So you're saying I'm afraid of him when it comes to fighting? That I'm afraid that it'll turn out being the Kyuubi or something?"

"That is correct, and it's not just when you fight him apparently. After the first time Iruka saw that fear, he started watching you in your other fights. It seems that even when someone attacks similar to Naruto when he's acting more wild or at times when you catch glimpses of Naruto, there are moments where you'll lock up."

A sudden thought slapped me in the face as I tried to process this. The night Mizuki had jumped me, that split second I could have used to attack, I'd frozen. There had been something so familiar to how he looked. Now I remembered what he'd looked like – he had been in almost the same position as the Kyuubi when he'd lunged at me with Naruto's body.

The Hokage must have noticed my sudden burst of thoughts because he asked, "What are you remembering, Sasaui?"

I quickly explained to him the Mizuki thing, and the more I spoke, the more I began to believe just what the Hokage said. I was afraid of that Kyuubi attack. It had scarred me in more ways that I'd thought. Now I wasn't only having nightmares of it, but I also feared it happening again in the present. There was no way that Naruto would suddenly attack me again, though. He wouldn't let the Kyuubi possess him. He'd fought it the night of the Mizuki incident, he could do it again.

"How often?" I asked. "How often to I lock up?"

"Iruka says it's not as often as it used to be, but there are still times, most likely just times that are very similar to the attack, that you will freeze momentarily." The Hokage leaned back in his seat, watching me as I let this all sink in. There was sympathy now mixed in with his kind expression. "Sasaui, I would like to know whether or not you believe this will affect you while you're on missions. When you first start getting missions, they'll be easy, but as they get harder, you may have to take on other shinobi. I want to know if I can put you on team seven or if I need to figure out another team."

Again that spark of happiness blazed within me. He'd just admitted that I was supposed to be on team seven, just as I'd hoped to begin with. I would be on a team with Naruto and Sasuke, fighting alongside them as ninja.

But what if my new phobia got them hurt? What if it put our team in danger? If I froze up in the middle of a battle, even if it was only for a second, it could cost my team dearly. Could I really risk my friends being hurt simply because I wanted to be with them on a team? I could even endanger Sakura and our sensei. Was it worth it?

"I'm sure you have a lot to think about, Sasaui." The Hokage's words just barely registered, but when they did, I forced myself out of my thoughts. "You have an hour to decide, Sasaui. After that, I will have to assign you another team. Think carefully, because I know you're very smart Sasaui. I'm sure you'll make the right choice. Until then, you're free to leave while you think. I'm sure you would like some peace and quiet."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage." I gave him a quick bow before turning to leave. With that done, I left the room, a new weight placed on my shoulders.

*~*~*~*~

Be on the team.

Don't be on the team.

Be on the team.

Don't be on the team.

Be on the team.

Don't be on the-

"Gah! This is so annoying!" I groaned. I fell back onto the roof of the house I was currently resting on. The stone bit into my back, but I didn't care. Physical pain rather than mental frustration was almost welcome.

Why couldn't this be simple? It seemed like every time I decided one thing, another part of me screamed I had to do the other. I probably would have had an easier time picking whether or not to jump off a cliff or walk into fire.

I felt as if I had to be there for Naruto and Sasuke. I had to protect them both from the shinobi world and from themselves. Naruto had the problem with the nine tails, something I knew I could help him fight after before. Sasuke had his problem with trust, working together, and revenge. If something would help him achieve it, despite his promise, he would take it, even if that risked the team.

If I was there, though, there was the chance of me locking up. That could lead to situations such as death or give the enemy a chance to grab me and use me against my team. Neither situation would be good. One would mentally unbalance the team while the other would put them in a hostage situation.

But I had to protect them. Yet in trying to, I could be putting them in danger.

"At this rate I'm going to make my head explode," I grumbled. Well, at least if it did, I wouldn't have to deal with the problem at hand.

It had already been thirty minutes since my discussion with the Hokage. I only had another half hour before my answer was needed. So far, though, I seemed to be going around in circles just trying to get to the conclusion. No matter how I looked at it, in protecting them, I might end up hurting them as well. If I wasn't a part of their team, though, I couldn't help them with their inner darkness.

A sense of fatigue started to settle in, my mental tiredness spreading out through my body as well. I was drawing extremely close to banging my head off the ground below me. Either that or crying in frustration.

For a sudden moment, I wanted Itachi there. He was the only living person I knew that also knew of the Kyuubi situation besides the Hokage. When I'd been troubled like this as a kid, he had always helped me get through it. He had been the voice of reason, trying to point Sasuke and me in the right direction.

Itachi would never be there now, though. I was left with this situation by myself. Sasuke wasn't there to go to, and neither was Naruto. I couldn't even go to Chouji or Shikamaru. The only person I could really go to was the Hokage, but I couldn't figure out how he'd be able to help me. I wasn't close to him like I was with others.

With another groan, I lay down on the roof. My feet still hung over the edge of the building I was on. Staring up at the sky, I could understand Shikamaru's envy of them. It would be so simple to just drift through the sky, doing nothing but giving the occasional rain to the land below.

I laughed, realizing just how similar I was right now to that. I was more like rain, though. It could be helpful, giving life to plants, keeping them alive. Rain could also end up destroying things in the form of floods, taking everything down with its lack of control. The question was – what would I be in this situation?

There was the most obvious way I saw with just being the rain. For one, I would be there to protect them, both from others and themselves. I could give them strength just as I did with Naruto during the Mizuki incident.

Yet, what if I froze? I mean, if I did it so often, was one time of fighting through the fear really going to make my decision? Was just one time of being able to fight it going to mean I was over the fear?

I wanted to. More than anything I wanted to and just go be with my family. Part of me wanted to believe I was the only one who could protect them. After all, they were my family. That would be what most people would do, right?

But I wasn't like most people. I had already lost my entire clan. I refused to be the reason I lost anybody else. The most annoying part of this choice, though, was by trying to keep them safe, I may just be that very thing – their downfall. So, what would I do? Protect them and risk my fear, or possibly protect them by not joining them?

"You're making this harder than it really is, Sasaui," I grumbled to myself.

"Making what more complicated?"

The voice made me scream. I jerked so fast I thought I was going to fall over the edge of the roof, but before I could, someone grabbed my shoulder. The owner pulled me back a few feet from the edge before finally releasing me.

"A little out there, are you, Sasaui?"

I got to my feet, glaring at the new person. Really, I probably should have expected to run into him sooner or later, but I hadn't thought he would actually come searching for me. "Just a bit."

Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall the railing of the stair way he must have recently climbed. In my reverie, I must not have noticed my twin's arrival. At the moment he looked a little roughed up, a scrap on his elbow and a small red mark on the side of his cheek. He also looked a bit annoyed, something I wasn't sure the cause of - me or whatever had given him the marks.

"So, what have you been up to?" I knew what he was there for, but if there was one thing I was sure of at that moment, it was that it would probably be best to stall.

This made him glare at nothing in particular. "I was dealing with your little buddy, Naruto. Apparently I was in his way with Sakura or something. He's as obsessed with her as she is with me."

I laughed, speaking without thinking. "I guess you really like your team then, huh? Two love struck teens and a cool kid wannabe." I realized the second I saw the spark in his eyes that I had given him the perfect opportunity.

"Speaking of teams, what's up with you having none?"

Great, he'd snatched the moment. I glanced away, chewing on my lip as I desperately groped around in my mind for a good lie that would convince him. My pause only made his eyes narrow, sensing something was off.

He bent forward, trying to force me to meet his eyes. "Sasaui, what's up?"

"Nothing to worry about, Sasuke. Stop looking at me like that – I'm telling the truth!"

He didn't seem convinced. If anything, my denial just made him more curious about what I was hiding. "Don't lie to me, Sasaui. Just tell me."

Oh, if only I could. But that was the problem – I couldn't tell Sasuke. There was nobody I could really talk to. I could only deal with my problems, all by myself, letting them swirl around inside of me. Would I eventually burst, keeping all these secrets from one of the few people who might understand? After all, he was my twin and the closest person to me. So why couldn't I tell him?

Because he already had enough on his plate. Because, just like me, he had gone through the massacre of our clan, something that was enough for anyone to bear. Because if I told him about Naruto, there was the chance of him pulling away from one of the two people he let in. Because if I told him about the impostor, it would only fuel a darkness I already had trouble helping him with.

Leaving me all alone, yet surrounding me by my friends and family. How ironic, to have such a great burden, and the only people I could talk to was the leader of the village and the brother that had betrayed our clan. Two people, both seemingly far away because of just who they were, who knew part of my burden.

"There was a problem with the team I was supposed to be placed in or something. I think the Hokage was worried because….. Well, I don't know. But he wants me to decide whether I believe I should be on the team."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "So, do you know what team it was?"

"Yeah, your team." Once again I spoke without thinking, the part of me that yearned to be honest momentarily overpowering my brain.

This caused Sasuke to shoot forward, his hands grasping my shoulders once again. I flinched at how hard his fingers gripped me, his eyes sparking with a sudden flame. "Sasaui, you have to join our team. There's no question about it. That way, I can make sure you're safe."

I was shocked. Of course I knew about his sudden protective impulse lately, but that was because I'd been in a possible life-or-death situation just days ago. I hadn't expected him to be this insistent on keeping me safe, though, when given the opportunity. Maybe I wasn't the only one worrying about keeping their family safe.

But because of that, I wasn't sure I could go through with his wish.

Shrugging off his hands, I took a step back, making sure not to meet his eyes. "Sasuke, it's not that simple."

"How isn't it? You want to be there for me, too, right? I don't see what kind of problem could stop you." His eyes narrowed. Already his emotionless demeanor had mostly returned. That spark was gone, his mind closed off. He was his usual stone self again. "What exactly is this problem, Sasaui?" he asked.

I had already bitten the inside of my lip to the point it was bleeding, so I began to do the same thing to my cheek. Already I could sense this entire thing going downhill. Once again I found myself searching for any lie that I knew he would buy, but there was nothing. Now that he was already suspicious of me keeping something from him, he knew it had to be something serious. "I can't tell you, Sasuke. I'm sorry."

That seemed to take him aback. It didn't surprise me. I almost always answered his questions, except for those that concerned my dreams. Sasuke stared at me, trying to put together a puzzle he was missing many pieces to.

Finally, one emotion seemed to flare in his eyes – anger. "What is the problem, Sasaui?"

His demand made a spark of rage flicker within me as well. "I told you, Sasuke, I can't tell you."

This seemed to frustrate him more, and it occurred to me that I probably shouldn't have responded to him with my own rage. What else could I do, though? It wasn't like I could explain it to him. I couldn't explain Naruto was the host of the nine tailed fox demon that had attacked the village twelve years ago.

"Is it because of me? Is there a problem with you and me being on the same team?" Instead of waiting for my answer, he just searched my eyes. When he saw no change, he continued his interrogation. "Is there something wrong with you being on a team with Naruto?"

That must have given him the reaction he was looking for, because that's when his questioning stopped. He had removed his hands from his pockets the moment our argument began, and now they were relaxing and clenching as he thought.

"What is it you've been keeping from me about Naruto?"

It was my turn to be the one taken aback. I mean, it didn't surprise me that he noticed a reaction from me with Naruto's name. After all, I was his twin. He'd grown up with me. How long had he known there was something I kept from him about Naruto? Did he see what Iruka saw? Or was there something else?

Not sure how to react, I played dumb. "What are you talking about?"

He scoffed. "Don't lie to me, Sasaui. I see the way you'll act around him at times. You will seem uncomfortable, as if it's just hard for you to be around him." Well, it wasn't the fear that Iruka seemed to see at least. So just another problem. Sasuke went on, "Come on, Sasaui, just tell me. I might be able to help."

My mind was spinning, though, as I tried to figure out what this new thing could mean. It wasn't only during fights I was afraid of Naruto. Now, apparently, I was also uncomfortable around Naruto outside of that. What could it be, though? I was usually at ease around the blond and Sasuke. I tried my best not to think about the Kyuubi attack and usually only did after dreams of the monster. Even then, though, I usually acted normal around Naruto.

Somehow, thinking of the dreams made it click. Maybe it was only because of my most recent nightmare concerning the Kyuubi, but bit by bit, a new fear began to surface.

I was afraid of killing Naruto. The only time I ever felt uncomfortable around Naruto when that unexplainable urge to kill him made itself known. It had almost taken over me when Naruto had started to use a bit of the Kyuubi's chakra. If he ever used that chakra again, would I lose control as well? Would I try to kill him such as I did in his nightmares?

A sick feeling settled over me at the thought. Not only was I afraid of Naruto being possessed by the Kyuubi and attacking me, but I was also afraid of me killing him.

This thought seemed to make my brain run through everything again. Then, for the first time, I felt close to the reaching the finish line with my conclusion. How it would end, though, I wasn't sure. This was a battle between my own will to protect. Only now was it beginning to lean toward one side. What that side could lead to, though I was unsure.

****

Sasuke stared at his twin, feeling like he was trying to read a closed book. At least for the most part, seeing as he couldn't figure out her secret. He couldn't figure out what it was she was hiding from him.

He'd escaped Naruto's trap with ease, and almost just as easily he had located the dobe. During this entire time, his mind had been on Sasaui, a new wonder dawning upon him. Was there any person besides himself and possibly Naruto he trusted to protect his sister?

While he had been searching for Sasaui, this thought had continually bugged him, as unrelenting as his hatred toward _him_. When he had found her and been told that she had the option of being on his team, he had instantly wondered why she would think twice. They were best friends, family, and twins. She was just as protective toward him and Naruto as he was toward her, so wouldn't she jump at the opportunity to keep him safe? He almost wanted to tell her she needed to join just so that he could keep her safe.

But then she'd started hiding her reason. Sasuke knew that she hid things from him, but usually she would make it less clear that she was doing so. Now it was as obvious as the sky being blue. She had also let it slip that the problem had to do with Naruto, her eyes falling when he'd questioned her on it.

It was because she made it so clear that he wasn't just looking past it like usual. Now it just infuriated him that even when he knew she was hiding something, she refused to tell him what it was. He was her twin – she should trust him enough to let him know what was going on. But she didn't.

Just like _Itachi_ had, she was pulling away from him. She used to share everything with him, but as the years went by, it was almost like a chasm slowly built its way between them. And he was tired of Sasaui seeming to keep him on the other side.

"I can't tell you, Sasuke." Her eyes had become distant, her mind lost in some train of thought impossible for him to follow. "I'm sorry, but I just can't."

"Yes, yes you can!" he snapped. It wasn't like him to lose his temper, or even show so much emotion. So far he had slipped a couple times, but for the most part only his anger showed now. "Nobody is stopping you but yourself, Sasaui. It's not that you _can't_. You just refuse to tell me."

The point Sasaui took from there somewhat surprised Sasuke. "Why can't you just trust me and leave this alone, Sasuke? I know what I'm doing!"

He stared at her for a moment before scoffing. "Do you have any idea what you just said?" Sasuke almost couldn't believe she was so oblivious to what a hypocrite she was being, refusing to trust him yet asking for his own. "Why should I give you my trust if you won't give me yours?"

"Because I do trust you, Sasuke, but I also know you," she pointed out. "I just don't think you need to know, okay? Trust me, I don't like hiding things from you. I want to tell you, but… But I just _can't_." Her tone begged him to drop it, to let this argument end.

It wasn't until then that Sasuke actually realized what was going on – he was in a real fight with his sister. Not once could he remember having one before, not even when they were little kids and would argue about little things. But those usually ended with them just joking around and tackling each other or something. He had a feeling that wasn't how this fight would end.

"If you don't like hiding things, just tell me, Sasaui. If you want me to trust you, then you have to trust me." It was ironic that Sasuke would be the one telling her this since there had been multiple times Sasaui had talked to him about his unwillingness to trust others. She always tried to get others to do the right thing, or at least what she believed was right and would help them, but when it came to her own thoughts, her own mind, she was very reluctant to let anything out.

Sasuke knew what she was going to say when she looked at the ground, her shoulders fallen and her lips pursed. "I'm sorry, Sasuke. But no matter what you say, no matter how much I trust you, no matter how much I want to tell you, I will not."

To Sasuke's surprise, her absolute refusal despite her trust in him angered him more than her not trusting him. The only reason Sasuke could figure out for why she still wouldn't tell him was because even though she trusted him, she didn't believe he'd take it well or that it would make him react badly. So she trusted him, but she didn't trust him enough to believe he'd try to hear her out, just as he had with learning Itachi's reason.

In this rage, he clenched his fists, wanting to be away from her before he snapped. "If that's how you're going to be, why don't you just go join that other team?" Without giving her time to respond or even look at her expression, he swirled around, storming away. Despite all this anger, he could still feel the slight pain of knowing what he'd just said. The pain of knowing he'd just hurt his twin.

I don't know how long I stood there, staring at the spot my twin had been before, feeling as if I'd just been punched in the face, kicked in the gut, squashed by a boulder, stomped on my horses, and many other things as I replayed his words.

He had basically told me to go join the other team.

Of course, I'd already come to my decision before, after coming to my other realization, and no matter what Sasuke would have said, it couldn't have changed it. That didn't make the blow of his words any less painful. Nor did it do anything to help block out the fact I'd just gotten into an argument with my twin brother. In fact, the whole recent event felt like a big slap to the face.

Feeling slightly numb, I forced myself to move, my body having a destination in mind it hadn't yet shared with my mind. My mind spun, only this time it wasn't from ideas. This time it was trying to grasp the fight, trying to see where everything had gone wrong and what I should have said. Or what I could say to fix all of this.

Most of me was saddened by what had happened, but there was a small part of me that felt anger. Sasuke should know by now I wouldn't do something without a reason. He'd known me for twelve years. Ever since the massacre, I had matured. After all, I couldn't always be a selfish little kid like most others and do what I wanted. I had to deal with the darkness of both my brother and my friend, as well as the pain that still haunted me. Those combined had pushed me to mature. It was because of this that despite wanting to, I couldn't tell Sasuke.

But he didn't understand this. He thought it was because I didn't trust him, but I did. I just knew him well enough to know it wasn't any information that would do him any good. He told me to trust him, but he didn't even trust me enough to know I was hiding something for a good reason. Apparently he didn't even trust me enough to be on the same team as me.

It seemed as if the sudden spark of rage pulled me out of my dazed, numbed state because I finally realized where I was heading. With my decision final, I had been going to the Hokage's office.

Like earlier, the place was mostly deserted. I saw a few chunin and jounin, even one anbu, but for the most part it was empty. While I walked to the Hokage's office, I had a lot of time to think, so I continued to think through my final choice. I had to make sure there were no other things that could change it. But, in the end, my protective instinct won the war.

I felt as if I arrived at the office all too soon, still trying to make sure this was the right choice. I knocked on the door, waiting until the Hokage gave the okay to open the door.

To my surprise, there were two other people in there. One was a girl from my class. She had brown hair in two pig tails, impatient dark brown eyes, and a freckled face. She wore a purple shirt with medium length sleeves, black pants with diamonds on the sides until around her mid thigh, and blue ninja shoes.

The other female was older, maybe in her early twenties, with long reddish orange hair, bright blue eyes, and a Leaf headband on her forehead. She wore the green flak jacket of most chunin and jonin, as well as dark blue pants, but her shirt was a fiery red rather than the same color as her pants.

"Ah, Sasaui. Welcome. I was afraid you wouldn't make it back by your deadline."

I wasn't entirely sure how much time I had left, but based on the Hokage's words, I was cutting it close.

"So, I take it that means you have made your decision?" he asked.

The girl watched tapped her foot impatiently while both the jonin woman and the Hokage looked expectantly at me. I still had no clue why the two other females were there. Apparently nothing about the Kyuubi incident was to be spoken of, though, seeing as he hadn't asked them to leave.

My gaze finally locked onto the Hokage, my lips pursed as I debated one last time about my choice. There were no other ways, of that I was now sure. Just like Sasuke wanted, I was going to trust him, with both himself and Naruto. As for Naruto, I was going to trust him with himself as well and protecting my brother. But until my fear was gone, until there was no risk of me hurting them, until there was no risk of the blood thirty darkness taking me over, I couldn't be on a team with them.

"I want you to put me on the other team, Lord Hokage."


	12. Rewrite

Not sure if you all will believe this, but... Tainted Guardian is being rewritten... Again... With Sasaui as an Uchiha... There will be some conditions to this, as you will find out. But this story will be deleted in a week, so if you don't get the message, I'm sorry. But move on over to that one if you want to read it again.


End file.
